BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY
HAVE A
Issue 1,036 Monday 14 December 2009
CONFUSION MOUNTS OVER
BANK BONUSES SUPER-TAX
BANKING
▲
BY VICTORIA BATES
THE GOVERNMENT is today set to
bow to City fury by issuing a clarifica-
tion on its super-tax on bank bonuses,
after being swamped by a deluge of
queries from firms unsure if they will
be hit by the damaging levy.
Confusion in the UK’s financial
hub has been rising daily since last
Wednesday’s pre-Budget Report, when
chancellor Alistair Darling revealed
plans to swipe 50 per cent off every
discretionary bonus earmarked for
bank staff before next April.
While the original parameters for
the tax seemed rigid enough – the
BBA’s Angela Knight says
that ambiguity over the
bonus tax rules has cre-
ated “extraordinary ten-
sions in the City”.
Treasury initially indicated it would
affect only the 397 deposit-holding
banks and building societies which
currently hold a banking licence
from the Financial Services Authority,
as well as their subsidiaries – the City
has been dismayed by ever-changing
guidance from the government in the
days following the announcement.
A statement from the government
today will address concerns put to it
in writing last week by the British
Bankers’ Association (BBA). The group
wants elucidation on the situation for
non-banking entities owned by banks,
FTSE 100 ▲5,261.57 +17.20 DOW ▲10,471.50 +65.67 NASDAQ ▼2,190.31 -0.55
BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY
OBAMA: WALL STREET
BANKERS ARE FAT CATS
NEW RULES PROMISED P3
((Left to right) Bob Wigley, Tim Linacre and George Osborne
such as fund managers and insurers,
and for independent non-bank finan-
cial firms; more detail on how bonus-
es will be policed at UK branches or
subsidiaries of foreign banks, for
example where bonus payments are
decided overseas; and how deferred
share-based payments agreed under
G20 proposals should be taxed.
www.cityam.com
Pictures: REX, REUTERS
BBA chief executive Angela Knight individual firms, the Treasury will
said the ambiguity had caused “extra- today receive a missive from a consor-
ordinary tensions” in the City, tium of eight leading independent
adding: “There was an assumption stockbrokers, including Oriel
that if the government was going to Securities, Arden Partners, Panmure
do something, they would have Gordon, Collins Stewart, Evolution,
worked it out first. It’s a mess.” Numis, Cenkos and Altium, demand-
In addition to a panicked flurry of ing clarification of their position.
written and verbal enquiries from Panmure Gordon chief executive
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WINTER
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HOLIDAYS IN
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Tim Linacre said the legislation had
been “put together in a hurry and
without proper reflection”.
“Firms like us have received no gov-
ernment bailout, so why should we
not be allowed to compensate our
staff appropriately, particularly when
we have cut salaries across the board
to weather the recession?” he said.
The news comes after it emerged
Barclays Capital, Barclays’ star-per-
forming investment banking divi-
sion, had put on hold plans to boost
base salaries to compensate for the
dwindling bonus pool, pending more
information from the Treasury.
Bob Wigley, the former Merrill
Lynch banker who chaired the Wigley
report into London’s competitiveness
for London’s Mayor Boris Johnson,
said: “London is on a knife edge and
the situation is more precarious than
at any point in my career.”
The City’s concerns came as shad-
ow chancellor George Osborne said
yesterday that he would not oppose
the tax, despite Conservative London
Mayor Boris Johnson warning it “could
drive financial services overseas”.
But he offered a sliver of hope for
the City by setting at rest fears this
year’s tax could be repeated in 2011.
“This is a one-year only tax,”
Osborne told the BBC.
“If you were permanently to
impose some additional levy in the
UK without trying to achieve [interna-
tional agreement]... then you would
be running a serious risk with the
competitiveness of the UK.”
ALLISTER HEATH: P2; BARCLAYS: P9
Certified Distribution
02/11/09 – 29/11/09 is 102,194
 2 News
People don’t come here for the weather
EDITOR’S LETTER
ALLISTER HEATH
IN 1733, Voltaire, one of France’s great-
est thinkers, wrote a series of letters
on the English nation, describing
some of the extraordinary going-ons
he had discovered during his exile to
this country. The findings scandalised
many of his French readers, then a
truly statist and anti-capitalist nation.
“Go into the London Stock
Exchange – a more respectable place
than many a court – and you will see
representatives from all nations gath-
ered together for the utility of men”,
Voltaire wrote. “Here Jew,
Mohammedan and Christian deal
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WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS TODAY
DEBENHAMS DIRECTORS
BUMPER PAYOUTS
Directors of Debenhams have
received bumper payouts, despite the
retailer cutting its dividend payment
to shareholders last year. Rob
Templeman, chief executive, saw his
package increase by a third to £1.24m
after he was granted a bonus of
£428,073. Michael Sharp, deputy
chief executive, saw his total package
increase by 53pc to £968,644 after he
was granted a bonus of £331,290.
BRITISH AIRWAYS SUBSIDIARY THE
MILEAGE COMPANY SEES PRE-TAX
PROFITS FALL 19.4 PER CENT
Pre-tax profits at The Mileage
Company, the British Airways sub-
sidiary which runs its Airmiles
rewards scheme, fell 19.4pc to £16.3m
in the year to 31 March 2009, accord-
ing to its latest accounts.
with each other as though they were
all of the same faith, and only apply
the word infidel to people who go
bankrupt. Here the Presbyterian trusts
the Anabaptist and the Anglican
accepts a promise from the Quaker.
On leaving…some go to the Synagogue
and others for a drink, this one goes to
be baptised in a great bath in the
name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost
…and everybody is happy.”
To 18th century French readers,
such wonderful, peaceful trade-based
multiculturalism was unbelievably
eccentric; yet the City of London, at its
best, was always an open, outward-
looking marketplace. Its renaissance,
especially after Big Bang in 1988, went
hand in hand with an influx of for-
eign capital and talent. Investment
banks, hedge funds, private equity
and consultancies have the most
diverse staff in their London offices;
others, such as the accountancy and
law firms, are gradually catching up.
Take Barclays Capital: of its 12-
strong executive committee, around
Gordon Brown might choose to call a snap election
Tory lead narrows in poll
POLITICS
▲
BY DAVID HELLIER
THE chances of a hung Parliament
looked that much greater yesterday,
after a poll from YouGov put Labour
just nine points behind the
Conservatives, who registered 40 per
cent support.
The City is concerned that a nar-
row majority for an incoming govern-
ment, or even worse, no majority at
all, will make it impossible to take
decisive action to reduce the coun-
GRANT BOVEY PARTNER SPENDS MIL-
GET LIONS TO SELL MANSION
A former business associate of Grant
Bovey, the failed buy-to-let entrepre-
neur, is selling London’s largest river-
side private house for £25m — twice
as much as the 300-year-old mansion
was expected to fetch before the prop-
erty crash. James Taylor, who was a
director of Bovey’s Imagine Homes
until summer 2008, is selling Gordon
House, which he bought as a develop-
ment opportunity in early 2007.
BRITISH AIRWAYS SET FOR KEY
STRIKE BALLOT
British Airways is braced for the
result of a strike ballot tomorrow that
could lead to widespread disruption
of Christmas flights. The airline’s
13,000 cabin crew are voting whether
to take action in their longrunning
dispute over pay, redundancies and
working conditions.
10 are overseas-born, hailing from the
US, France, Italy, Canada and
Australia. There are more overseas-
born bosses in FTSE 100 boardrooms
than ever before – we are tapping the
world’s best and brightest. In fact, the
entire UK financial services industry
relies on foreign-born employees: of
the 3.969m employed in banking,
finance, insurance and other sub-sec-
tors, 761,000 were born overseas, says
the Office for National Statistics. That
proportion – 16 per cent – is higher
than in any other sector.
High-end finance is even more
international – but that makes it espe-
cially vulnerable to political attacks.
Many City workers packed their bags
once to move here; why would they
not do so again to move elsewhere?
Many foreigners, especially those from
America, France or Australia, will be
forced to reconsider their career plans
if they find the 50p tax rate and the
raid on bonuses too painful. It is a
case, I’m afraid, of follow the money.
London holds many attractions,
Picture: JASON ALDEN
try’s fiscal deficit.
Labour is generally thought to have
benefited politically from the intro-
duction of the banker bonus tax last
week, even though it has provoked
fury in the City of London.
There was some good news for the
Conservatives, though, with a second
poll (ComRes) giving the Tories a mas-
sive 17 per cent lead.
There were reports yesterday sug-
gesting the government is preparing
itself for a snap election, maybe as
early as 25 March.
GREECE WARNED TO ACT OVER
DEFAULT RISK
Greece must announce bold initia-
tives in the next few days to rescue its
collapsing bond market and avert the
possibility of defaulting on a rising
public debt, leading economists and
bankers warned on Sunday. George
Papandreou, prime minister, will out-
line structural reforms on Monday
aimed at cutting the budget deficit
from 12.7 per cent to 3 per cent of
gross domestic product in four years.
WHITE HOUSE PREDICTS JOBS
GROWTH
The US economy will start to add new
jobs by next spring, Lawrence
Summers, Barack Obama’s senior
economic adviser, said – the first time
the White House has predicted the
return of jobs growth by April.
including the language and the cul-
tural attractions. But speak to success-
ful City folk from overseas and there is
much that they are also dissatisfied
with: property prices, school fees, the
health system, the binge drinking and
much more. Moving to London was
always a trade-off: people would come
because they knew they would be bet-
ter off and this outweighed many per-
ceived disadvantages. If the costs go
on rising and the benefits are slashed,
thousands will leave. It is that simple.
It is also the case that – for histori-
cal and cultural reasons – the British
are far more likely to move abroad in
search of better opportunities than
citizens of any other rich country. Go
to Mumbai, Abu Dhabi or New York
and see for yourself (the stats also sug-
gest this). Labour’s punitive new taxes
will chase far more people and wealth
away – over the next few years, if not
immediately – than the government
would have us believe. Voltaire would
have been dismayed at our stupidity.
allister.heath@cityam.com
Q.
A.
Q & A : THE BANK BONUS TAX
WHICH FIRMS ARE CONCERNED
THEY MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE
BONUS TAX?
The Treasury originally said the
tax would only hit the 397
deposit-holding banks and building
societies which hold a banking
licence from the Financial Services
Authority, as well as their sub-
sidiaries. However, the rules have
since blurred; the Treasury has
already stipulated that hedge funds
will not be subject to the tax, while
today’s announcement will seek to
provide more detail on whether non-
bank subsidiaries of banking groups
will be affected, as well as whether
non-banking financial groups such
as independent stockbrokers and
asset management firms might be
caught.
Q. IS THERE A WAY FOR COMPA-
NIES TO GET AROUND THE NEW
RULES?
A. Accountants have described the
swoop on bonuses as “dracon-
ian” after identifying ways in which
the Treasury has sought to block off
the loopholes – for example by block-
ing payment through intermedi-
aries, hitting non-domiciled
WIND FARMS FOR SECURITY NOT THE
CLIMATE, SAYS E.ON RENEWABLES
CHIEF EXECUTIVE FRANK MASTIAUX
Building wind farms is even more
important for keeping the lights on
than tackling global warming, accord-
ing to the chief executive of E.ON
Renewables. At the Copenhagen cli-
mate change conference, Frank
Mastiaux claimed that increasing
emphasis on renewables made sense
from a commercial point of view.
HOBBYCRAFT SET TO BE SOLD FOR
£70M
It is understood that Grant Thornton
has been appointed to advise the 39-
store chain, which has benefited from
the “make-do-and-mend” ethos of the
credit crisis. The chain’s manage-
ment, led by chief executive Chris
Crombie, is believed to be exploring a
buy-out from the company’s family
owners.
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Gartmore lists at 220p per share
Fund management house Gartmore will
list on the stock exchange today at 220p
per share, significantly below the 270p
mid-point it had hoped for. Gartmore’s
flotation is the first initial public offering
of a private-equity owned company
since the onset of the credit crunch in
2007. While its share price will now
imply a market capitalisation of £676m
compared with its projected tag of
£800m a fortnight ago, the firm
believes merely covering the IPO after
the recent debt turmoil in Dubai and
bond market jitters following the pre-
Budget Report is an achievement.
Bankers destroy value
Bankers destroy £7 of value for every
pound they create, according to new
research by the New Economics
Foundation. The research into the social
value of different jobs concluded that
hospital cleaners, for example, create
more then £10 in value for every £1 they
receive in pay.
Advertising executives and tax account-
ants destroy even more of society’s
wealth – £11.50 and £47 per £1 respec-
tively.
individuals contracted to a
foreign bank as well as a UK
subsidiary. It also seems that ?
banks will be retrospectively charged
if they temporarily hike salaries to
compensate for smaller bonuses,
although this is one area on which
banks such as Barclays will be eager-
ly awaiting clarification today.
Q. HOW WILL IT AFFECT THE
GUIDELINES ON BONUSES THAT
ARE ALREADY IN PLACE?
A. This is one of the key questions
to which the British Bankers’
Association hopes to get an answer
from HM Revenue & Customs today.
The government is expected to clari-
fy the position it will take in the case
of those banks which have already
implemented the guidance given by
the G20 on bonuses earlier in the
year, which stipulates that a large
proportion of a bonus should be paid
out in shares which are deferred over
3 years. Senior City figures are con-
cerned that if banks are expected to
pay 50 per cent tax on the deferred
and equity-based component, that
the levy will affect their competitive-
ness for far longer than just the one-
year life of the tax.
MPS PREPARE TO QUESTION DARLING
ON BANKERS’ BONUSES AND STATE
BORROWING
Bankers’ bonuses and spiralling gov-
ernment debt remain under the glare
of the spotlight this week as Alistair
Darling faces fierce questioning by
MPs over his Pre-Budget Report (PBR).
The Chancellor’s appearance before
the Commons Treasury Select
Committee comes amid reports that
company directors are fleeing Britain
to avoid the 50 per cent tax rate,
bankers are seeking legal advice on
privacy and Barclays is to defer bonus-
es for a year to try to beat the new
windfall tax.
WHITEHALL PLANS TO PRIVATISE
QUARTER OF PUBLIC SECTOR
A plan to create at least two public-
sector “outsourcing giants” — that
could eventually be worth £4bn each
— is being studied by government.
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009 News 3

London’s best sales

President Obama
was losing patience
with bankers yes-
terday

growth for 3 years

Picture: PA

general.

▲
RETAIL
BY JAMES LINACRE
LONDON enjoyed its best sales
growth since October 2006, with cen-
tral London retail sales for November
13.3 per cent higher on a like-for-like
basis than a year ago, according to
the latest survey from the British
Retail Consortium (BRC) out today.
“These are great figures,” said
Stephen Robertson, BRC’s director
“These figures show that London
retailers have had a very encouraging
start to Christmas,” he said.
Joscelyne Hynard, BRC business
information team senior analyst,
said: “Sterling’s weakness, although
less marked than last year, continued
to attract overseas visitors,” she said.
Meanwhile the department store
chain John Lewis reported its best
ever sales performance last week.

Obama hits
out at fat cat
US bankers
struggling and out of work.
▲

BANKING
BY JENNY FORSYTH
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama last
night lashed out at Wall Street
bankers, labeling them “fat cats” who
“don’t get it”.
Speaking on the eve of today’s
meeting with top US bankers at the
White House, Obama said he was
frustrated with the banks that the
government had bailed out.
“I did not run for office to be help-
ing out a bunch of fat cat bankers on
Wall Street,” Mr. Obama told CBS’s 60
Minutes.
“You guys are drawing down
$10m, $20m bonuses after America
went through the worst economic
year in decades and you guys caused
the problem,” he added.
The comments are likely to create a
frosty atmosphere at today’s summit,
where Obama will be canvassing the
likes of Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd
Blankfein, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie
Dimon, and Bank of America’s Ken
Lewis about allowing more loans.
Government officials are frustrated
by some banks’ continued payment
of high bonuses and their reluctance
to lend, while many Americans are
“Some people on Wall Street still
don’t get it,” said Obama.
The harsh criticism follows the
House of Representatives’ approval
on Friday of sweeping legislation that
would restrict the operations of big
banks and the the Federal Reserve.
The bill aims to beef up financial
regulation in the wake of last year’s
banking crisis. But it may not be
enacted if a similar set of rules is not
also passed by the Senate.
The proposals would give the gov-
ernment power to:
•break up even healthy companies
if regulators believe they pose a risk
to the system
•collect $150bn in fees from the
big financial institutions to create an
insurance fund to pay for future large
failures
•strip the Federal Reserve of nearly
all its consumer protection laws
•audit the Fed’s monetary policy.
The bill gives shareholders an advi-
sory vote on executive compensation
and creates a new Consumer
Financial Protection Agency, which
would write rules and check that
banks were complying with con-
sumer protection policies.

$3.5bn Dubai Stitzer set to

repayment due woo investors
Kinetic Direct Drive
▲

WORLD ECONOMY FOOD

DUBAI faces the first major hurdle in
its struggle to resolve its debt crisis
today as the $3.5bn (£2.2bn) bond by
state-owned firm Nakheel expires.
Last night there was no indication
whether the Islamic bond, or sukuk,
would be repaid on time. But the
sukuk closed higher at 54 cents to the
dollar on Friday on speculation that
Nakheel, the property arm of Dubai
World, would meet the deadline.
The outcome will dictate sentiment
for the region. Markets were thrown
into disarray after Dubai World asked
for a moratorium on its debt repay-
ments on 25 November.
CADBURY chief executive Todd Stitzer
will today tell shareholders why they
should not accept a hostile takeover
from Kraft Foods as speculation
mounted that the British confection-
er is in talks with Hershey over a rival
offer.
Hershey is widely understood to be
holding talks with Cadbury about a
possible friendly takeover.
At an eagerly anticipated presenta-
tion at Goldman Sachs in the City
Cadbury will discuss management’s
plans for growth over the next two
years, and emphasise the company’s
ambitious profit targets.
 4 News
Hands in year
long plan to
sue Citigroup
▲
PRIVATE EQUITY
BY OLIVER SHAH
TERRA Firma’s £2bn lawsuit against
Citigroup, which it accuses of lying
during its buyout of music giant EMI
two years ago, had been in the
pipeline for 12 months.
The private equity group led by
Guy Hands finally decided to strike
after Citi rejected a refinancing deal
that would see £1bn of loans to EMI
written off.
The move marks a sharp deteriora-
tion in relations between the two
players, who once trusted one anoth-
er in major deals, and means an ami-
cable debt-for-equity swap for the
beleaguered record label will now be
off the cards.
In documents filed at a New York
court on Friday, Terra Firma levels a
series of explosive allegations at Citi
and its top investment banker in
London, David Wormsley.
The lawsuit revolves around the
role of Citi, which ran the auction of
EMI but also provided £2.6bn financ-
ing for Terra Firma’s £4bn bid in 2007.
Hands alleges that Wormsley mis-
led him into thinking a rival private
equity firm, Cerberus Capital
Management, would make a bid for
EMI. He says this factor pushed Terra
Firma into a generous offer of 265p a
share at the height of the M&A boom.
The court document claims: “Citi’s
representations to Terra Firma were
knowingly false, and were deliberate-
ly and maliciously designed to fabri-
cate a false competitive landscape
that would elicit a bid...”
Hands goes on to accuse the
American bank of trying to drive EMI
into bankruptcy so it can bring about
a merger with rival Warner Music,
suggesting Citi used an analyst note
to talk down EMI.
EMI, which boasts a roster of stars
including Lily Allen and Coldplay,
declined to comment. Citi was
unavailable for comment although it
is understood the American bank will
contest the action robustly. Terra
Firma is seeking £1.5bn in lost equity
plus punitive damages.
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
DAVID WORMLSEY
CITIGROUP HEAD OF INVESTMENT
BANKING
GUY Hands’ personal attack on
David Wormsley will fascinate the
City. Affectionately known as “The
Worm”, Citigroup’s rainmaker is
known as one of the best investment
bankers in London. With a string of
deals to his belt – including the con-
troversial £10.3bn sale of airports
operator BAA to Spanish builder
Ferrovial in 2006 – Wormsley is
seen as dour but experienced.
He and Hands have a long history.
Between 2000 and 2007, Citi raked
in £136m fees for helping Terra
Firma on nearly 20 transactions. The
EMI deal alone netted Citi £92.5m.
A string of emails reveals the deci-
sions that led to Terra Firma’s disas-
trous £4bn takeover of EMI, which
was struggling under £1.7bn of debt.
Late on 6 May 2007, Wormsley
wrote to Hands: “I have a debt team
clear to talk to you.” Meanwhile he
emailed EMI to say he was
“absolutely certain that I can deliver
very serious added value in any dis-
cussions with Guy”.
Three days before the bidding
deadline, on 18 May, Wormsley
emailed Hands: “how is it going”
[sic]. Hands replied: “thank you for
your help. We are getting there but
need to sort out covenants with your
lending team.”
A weekend of intense phone calls
followed. Hands’ account of these
talks makes up the meat of his claim.
Terra Firma, led by Guy Hands, is suing Citigroup over an EMI buyout deal Picture: PA
 “If there’s a phone
to jump ship for, it’s this.”
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CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
Paul A. Samuelson won the Nobel Prize in economics
Households
are saving
extra cash
▲
ECONOMICS
BY JENNY FORSYTH
ONE in twenty British households
are now in negative equity, following
the dramatic slip in the housing
market.
The Bank of England’s Quarterly
bulletin, published today, reveals the
proportion of those in negative equi-
ty rose from one per cent in 2007, to
five per cent this year.
Though not as severe as the 11 per
cent rate in the mid 1990s, the steep
increase reflects the rapid slump in
house prices over the last two years.
But the Bank says that, despite the
rise in unemployment, tightening of
credit conditions and erosion of
home equity, households are not
feeling the pinch too badly because
of lower mortgage interest rates and
slashed prices on consumer goods.
A survey commissioned by the
Bank revealed the new mood of cau-
tiousness in British households.
Over 80 per cent of mortgage hold-
ers have at least 25 per cent equity in
their homes and, compared to last
year, more households said they
could keep up with their credit com-
mitments without much difficulty.
But the Bank found only 20 per cent
of households are using the extra
money to spend, while the rest are
paying off debt or increasing their
savings.
The bulletin also revealed a drop
in the number of pay settlements to
less than two per cent, with many
companies keen to freeze pay or
defer negotiations. Just under 35 per
cent of employees received a basic
pay freeze and only one per cent
received a pay cut this year.
Conditions in sterling markets
improved over the quarter. Despite
some temporary bouts of investor
nervousness, asset prices continued
their recovery from March lows and
financial market activity picked up.
Stricken banks pull in the profits for Odey
▲
HEDGE FUNDS
BY VICTORIA BATES
CRISPIN Odey, the hedge fund manag-
er who made a killing over the course
of the crisis by shorting stricken City
banks, is set to pay himself a windfall
of over £30m this year after profits at
his firm soared by almost a quarter.
Odey Asset Management is today
expected to file accounts showing
that it made £68.4m over the year,
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compared to £55.3m in the last finan-
cial year.
Odey, one half of the couple nick-
named the “Posh and Becks of
finance” along with his banker wife
Nichola Pease, is set to take a salary of
£30.4m, up on the £28m he paid him-
self last year.
The payout will not be subject to
the government’s new super-levy on
bank bonuses, after the Treasury clar-
ified last week that hedge funds
Economics legend dies
▲
ECONOMICS
BY CHRIS KAY
PAUL A. Samuelson, the first
American to win the Nobel Prize in
economics, died yesterday aged 94.
An undergraduate at the University
of Chicago and a graduate student at
Harvard University, his 1941 PhD the-
sis, the “Foundations of Economic
would not be liable to pay the tax.
Odey, who earlier this year threat-
ened to move his firm’s domicile out
of the UK to avoid the injurious new
50 per cent income tax band, has
been vilified during the financial
meltdown for profiting from short-
selling firms such as nationalised
lender Bradford & Bingley, Irish bank
Anglo Irish, South African bank
Investec and insurance giant Legal &
General.
News 7
Analysis” is widely acknowledged for His 1948 textbook, “Economics: An
transforming and laying the founda- Introductory Analysis” sold over 4m
tions of modern economics. copies and was widely translated.
Samuelson taught from 1940 at the “Paul Samuelson was both a path-
Massachusetts Institute of breaking and prolific economic theo-
Technology, gaining world renown rist and one of the greatest teachers
for its economics course. that economics has ever known,” said
In 1970, he was the first American Ben Bernanke, head of the Federal
to win the Nobel Prize in economics, Reserve and former student of
the second year the prize was offered. Samuelson’s at MIT.
Germany to
double its
borrowing
▲
WORLD
BY JAMES LINACRE
GERMANY will more than double net
new borrowing next year and also
increase public spending, in a new
draft budget due to be approved on
Wednesday.
The first budget of the new centre-
right German government will see a
record €85.8bn (£77.1bn) in new bor-
rowing next year, and total new debt
is expected to approach €100bn.
Spending will rise by around 10.5
per cent, as a result of rising social
welfare costs and the weak economy,
experiencing its worst recession since
the Second World War.
Germany’s budget has to tackle ris-
ing unemployment and lower tax rev-
enues, and the gaps in the budget
that has caused.
The government’s draft 2010 budg-
et bill says: “We will only be able to
overcome the crisis sustainably and
then return to a fiscal stabile path if
we are successful in supporting the
still fragile growth dynamic.”
A course of consolidation will
begin from 2011, aiming to reduce
the country’s structural deficit by
€10bn each year, but that does not
take into account €19.5bn in tax cuts
planned for 2011.
Constitutionally, the structural
deficit must be down to 0.35 per cent
of GDP by 2016.
Public finances were not hit as
hard this year as had been expected.
Budget plans show that net new bor-
rowing for 2009 will register as
€37.5bn, not the €49.1bn previously
planned for.
Angela Merkel’s government will
present medium-term financial plans
in May, after it receives tax estimates
and the state of North-Rhine
Westphalia holds its election.
Chancellor Merkel’s government
must win the election to keep its
majority in Germany’s upper house.
ANALYSIS l Millionaire’s playground: Crispin Odey’s evolving pay packet
Salary (£m)
35
£30.4m
30 £28m
25
20
15
£14m
10
5
£4.4m
0
2006 2007 2008 2009
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009 News 9

Spinvox in sale talks

Christina Domecq, part of the Goldman Sachs, Carphone
▲

TECHNOLOGY
BY RACHEL STEVENSON
SPINVOX, the speech-recognition
technology firm, is reportedly close to
accepting a $150m (£92m) takeover
offer from an American rival.
Nuance Communications, which is
Nasdaq listed, is rumoured to be in
talks with the company, which has
been dogged by allegations of finan-
cial mismanagement and claims its
technology is not up to scratch.
A sale of the business, which turns
voicemails into text, puts the future
of its founders in question.
famous sherry family, started up the
company along with Daniel Doulton
in 2003.
She has since come under scrutiny
after shareholders were sent an
anonymous dossier of allegations
about the way the company was run.
The company was also forced to
reveal that staff in overseas call cen-
tres were transcribing voicemail mes-
sages. Domecq claimed Spinvox was
the victim of a smear campaign, and
an internal inquiry by Deloitte, the
accountant, and Jones Day, did not
uncover any wrongdoing.
Warehouse and Peter Wood, the
Esure insurance tycoon, were among
the early backers of the business.
Spinvox has since eaten through
£100m of backers’ money and had to
secure a £30m bridging loan this
summer. The loan was due to be
repaid next week, but has been rolled
over to January.
It is not known whether Spinvox’s
current shareholders, including
hedge fund GLG Partners, and Martin
Hughes, the boss of Toscafund Asset
Management, will make a profit from
a sale of the company. Christina Domecq came under scrutiny at Spinvox Picture: Micha Theiner/ CITY A.M

Barclays to
rethink its
salary plan 
$&('#$#' #$+ ' &('
▲

BANKING
BARCLAYS Capital has put plans to
hike base salaries for its investment
bankers on ice while it seeks clarifica-
tion from the government on rules
surrounding the bonus clampdown.
BarCap had intended to give basic
pay rises of up to 150 per cent to many
of its 22,000 employees, a move that
would particularly benefit junior and
back-office staff.
The cap on salaries at the bank
$ !$# +(
would rise from £120,000 to £300,000
in an attempt to rearrange the bal-
ance between pay and bonuses in its
remuneration packages.
However, BarCap planned to back-
   
date the pay rises to June – giving its
bankers a one-off cash windfall. Rules
set out alongside the 50 per cent
supertax on bonuses forbid short-   

term cash payouts which could be
seen as a substitute for bonuses in the
period between December and April.
A source said the bank was in dis-
cussion with the government over
    
“all aspects” of the bonus supertax,
including the issue of backdated pay
rises. 
 
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Saab confident on being bought &.' #$ &'$# #$( ($ (& +( $&('#$#'$"
Saab can still find a buyer for the whole
firm, a spokesman for the loss-making
carmaker said yesterday, as reports sug- )'( % ( ($ -$)&'! !&(
gested parent company GM would sell
off parts of the company to China’s
BAIC. Saab, one of Sweden's best
known brands, has been hoping an 11th-
hour savior would turn up after parent

%& ((# +( $&('#$#' # &')!( # !$''' &(& (#

GM said in late November it would wind
down the firm if a buyer did not appear
before the end of this month. Dutch
sports car maker Spyker Cars NV is also
still in talks about buying the brand. -$)& #(! %$'( )( #*& "$& (# ( )#' ! # -$)& $)#(
Timis denies move towards listing



 

 

Advisers for African Petroleum, the
Liberia-focused oil company headed by
controversial tycoon Frank Timis, yester-
day denied reports that it was seeking a
stock exchange listing. They said: “At no
point has African Petroleum applied to
the exchange to list the company.
Furthermore there has been no contact
whatsoever from the exchange to
African Petroleum.” The comments $&('#$#'$" '  (&# #" $ %&, ( + ' )($&' # &)!( - ( ##! &*'
)($&(-
came after reports suggested Timis’
company had been barred from floating
on Aim. He chairs African Minerals, the
biggest mining company on AIM.
 The Capitalist
10
VETERAN LAUDS BIG-HEARTED CITY
FOR SHOWING SOME GIVE AND TAKE
AMONG the throng of eager banker-
bashers busy giving the City what for
at the moment, it’s good to see one of
our own returning as good as he gets.
Veteran Brian Winterflood, chair of
the market-making firm of the same
name, has taken on a new role in the
past few weeks as ambassador for the
Square Mile’s newest financial chari-
ty project, the East London Bond.
The new bond – offered by social
investment bond issuer Citylife – will
donate 20 per cent of the capital
received to rejuvenate the poorest
boroughs around the City, while the
remaining 80 per cent will be loaned
at a commercial rate to registered
social landlords, to use for affordable
housing in East London.
After five years, the loans are paid
back with interest to pay off the grant
money, while investors will receive
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
EDITED BY
VICTORIA BATES
GOT A STORY? EMAIL
thecapitalist@cityam.com
back their original capital – so every-
one’s left smiling.
“It’s a great way to show that the
City does indeed give as well as take,”
says Winterflood.
“It’s all too easy to write us down
all the time but there is an awful lot
of money going to charities from the
City, and I’m happy to act as an
ambassador to support that…”
Hear, hear.
City ambassador Brian Winterflood with wife Doreen Picture: MichaTheiner/ CITY A.M
must really be in demand if music
GOING GALACTIC stars are resorting to such tactics, eh?
The Capitalist was intrigued at the
weekend to receive an email singing
the praises of Spandau Ballet, ostensi-
bly soon to become the first band to
SWEET TOOTH
Do staff at law firm Linklaters do any-
perform in space aboard Sir Richard thing but eat? I only ask because, after
Branson’s new commercial space- a five-page tome from staffers
craft, the Virgin Enterprise. appeared last week complaining
“Spandau Ballet will have five min- about every earthly aspect of their
utes of weightlessness to perform one new office canteen, a division at the
of their hits, which will include either firm is now taking nominations for an
‘I’ll Fly For You’, ‘Gold’ or ‘True’,” shouts award for the best “cake submitter of
the email, which also claims to have the year”.
the support of EMI chair Guy Hands for The coveted prize is for the gener-
the venture. ous co-worker who’s come
Which is very bizarre, up trumps at providing
since Virgin Galactic goodies for the team
president Will over the past year –
Whitehorn has no with suggested
idea it’s happening, judging criteria
saying: “We have not including the exot-
been informed by ic nature of said
Spandau Ballet sweetmeats or
that they wish to well-judged risk-
fly or do this per- taking in the
formance in confectioner y
space.” selection proce-
The first flights dure. Yum.
BILL OF THE WEEK
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canny corporate’s radar – the
Christmas client breakfast, which is
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comparison to an evening blowout,
anyway) and doesn’t leave you with
a sore head for the next three days.
Take this group, for example, who
turned up to swanky eatery 1
Lombard Street last week for an
early celebration. Each member of
the group managed to pack away
his or her own body weight in grub
– muesli and fruit for starters, fol-
lowed by good old fry-ups – and
they even squeezed in a few vita-
mins with some fresh juices.
Four bottles of Laurent Perrier
rose champagne were the
crowd’s only nod to the usual
party extravagance – taking the
bill to an eminently reasonable
£917.61. Bargain.
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 12 News
UK economy can ill afford to lose £61bn in taxes
CITY COMMENT
NICK ANSTEE
T
HE INTRODUCTION of a new 50
per cent levy on banks paying
bonuses above £25,000 is one of
several recent measures –
including the incoming 50p tax band
and global transaction tax proposal –
that have been perceived to be an
Partygaming
mulls a £2bn
tie with Bwin
▲
LEISURE
BY PHILIP WALLER
ONLINE poker group PartyGaming is
understood to be in talks with
Austrian rival Bwin Interactive
Entertainment about a potential
£2bn tie-up.
PartyGaming is believed to have
held “on-off talks” since the summer
with Vienna-based Bwin about a pos-
sible “merger of equals”.
The firm is thought to be keen to
grow in sports betting, a sector in
which Bwin is particularly strong.
The Takeover Panel was expected to
ask PartyGaming to clarify the posi-
tion before the market was due to
open today, it was reported yesterday.
PartyGaming refused to say any-
thing. “We will not comment on
rumour,” a spokesman said. Bwin was
unavailable for comment.
Gibraltar-based PartyGaming, led
by chief executive Jim Ryan, has been
involved in growing consolidation in
the gaming industry.
In August, PartyGaming agreed to
buy the World Poker Tour for $12.3m
and in July it bought online bingo
Tories claim a doubling of low income Lazard takes the helm as
families facing 90 per cent tax rates Shell looks to sell assets
▲
POLITICS
BY PHILIP WALLER
THE number of low-income families
facing marginal tax rates of more
than 90 per cent has doubled in the
recession and is set to rise further, the
Conservatives claimed yesterday.
The Government had buried fig-
ures in its Pre-Budget Report last
week showing that 70,000 low
income families are facing the mar-
ginal tax rates, more than double the
total of 30,000 at the start of the
downturn, the Tories said.
“attack” on the City.
We all acknowledge the real public
anger that exists as a result of the
financial crisis, particularly when it
comes to bankers’ remuneration.
However, an excessively punitive
approach towards pay will have a
detrimental effect on the UK as a
whole. Let me explain why.
The financial services industry con-
tributed an estimated £61.4bn – or
12.1 per cent of total tax revenues – to
the government during 2008/09.
This – combined with the redistribu-
tion of the City’s business rates of
around £580m and the industry’s
substantial philanthropic contribu-
tions – is money that filters down to
the wider economy that we cannot
business Cashcade, which owns the
Foxy Bingo website, for up to £95.9m.
PartyGaming billionaire co-
founder Anurag Dikshit set up the
group in 1997 and developed its user-
friendly technology and it entered
the FTSE 100 after floating in 2005 at
a value of £5bn.
Dikshit sold most of his remaining
28 per cent stake in PartyGaming in
October. An online gaming ban in
the US, which outlawed the industry
in 2006, forced the firm and its rivals
to shut their lucrative American oper-
ations. PartyGaming did a deal in
April with the US to protect it from
prosecution.
ANALYSIS l PartyGaming
p PARTYGAMING appointed Numis
290 256.50
11 Dec
270
250
230
210
14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
A 90 per cent marginal tax rate
means that for each extra £1 some-
one earns, they get to keep only 10p,
losing the rest to increased taxes or
lower benefits.
Shadow Chancellor George
Osborne said: “It’s the many, not the
few who are suffering under Labour.
“Now thousands more families are
going to be caught in the poverty
trap.”
The Conservatives also claimed
marginal tax rates of 80 per cent or
would affect more than half a million
afford to lose when faced with a large
budget deficit.
According to one report, the total
tax rate on bonuses for high-earning
bankers could, for some, rise to over
100 per cent in total as a result of this
new levy. Such a high marginal rate is
bound to make institutions and indi-
viduals reconsider their commitment
to the City.
Furthermore, this has been
described as a one-off measure. But
the government added it could, in
fact, be repeated next year as part of a
broader review of pay levels. Such
uncertainty only serves to undermine
the UK as a place to do business in the
eyes of foreign investors and banks.
Industry figures are constantly
Partygaming founder Anurag Dikshit
MICHAEL MEADE
NUMIS
SECURITIES
Securities and the broker’s Michael
Meade in April to work as joint corpo- non-life insurance, oil and gas, retail,
rate broker alongside the online gaming speciality and other financials, support
group’s other corporate broker,
Deutsche Bank.
Meade became a managing director in Numis and Meade are working for
the investment bank’s corporate
finance business in June 2006.
He worked as an executive director at
families, a rise of 45,000 families com-
pared to the tax and benefit regime
in place in 2009-10.
The Conservatives said overall the
number of families paying marginal
tax rates of 60 per cent or more has
risen by over a million under Labour,
Ministers say the tax credit system
is supporting people’s incomes
through the downturn.
“Since 1997, the number of families
facing marginal deductions rates of
more than 70 per cent has more than
halved,” a Treasury spokesman said.
challenged to prove that institutions
and talent will move abroad as a
result of higher taxation. But by the
time we have that proof it will be too
late – key business activities and staff
will have already left. This would fur-
ther exacerbate the skills shortage
that is already problematic for the UK
as a whole. Yet the financial services
sector will be crucial to a speedy
recovery from recession.
We are happy to compete with rival
global financial centres – but such
competition must take place on a
level playing field. Writing in The
Prime Minister and President Sarkozy
declared last week: “it is clear that the
action must be taken at a global level.
No territory can be expected to or be
UBS between 1997 and 2005 and was
among eight recruits taken on by
Numis in 2006 to expand its equities
and trading businesses.
Numis carries out research, sales, trad-
ing, broking, capital raising and corpo-
rate finance in 15 sectors, including
aerospace and defence, building and
property, engineering, fast moving con-
sumer goods, life sciences, media, met-
als & mining, new energy & emissions,
services, technology and travel and
leisure.
PartyGaming alongside a team of
bankers from Deutsche Bank's Real
Estate, Gaming and Lodging group.
▲
ENERGY
OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell has
appointed investment bank Lazard to
sell its Swedish unit, while rival BP is
looking to sell its French petrol sta-
tions, it is understood.
Shell is hoping to sell off its
Swedish business, which includes a
refinery in Gothenburg, a marketing
arm, and its network of more than
400 gas stations for around $750m
(£461.2m).
Shell has been selling refineries in
the United States and Europe in
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
able to act on their own”.
And yet this seems to be where the
government is heading at the
moment when it comes to bankers’
remuneration. We need much clear-
er evidence that other major finan-
cial centres, especially in the West,
will implement similar measures. If
other governments act in accord with
the G20 principles we need not fear
the exodus of talent that would
inevitably follow if the UK acts alone.
Sadly, it would seem that the trust
between politicians and some parts of
the City has been severely dented. I
am keen to do my part in restoring
that trust.
Nick Anstee is Lord Mayor of the City of
London
NEWS | IN BRIEF
Accenture website drops Woods
Consultants Accenture, the group which
based its marketing around Tiger
Woods, has pulled the golfer from its
website, it said yesterday, while Gillette
maker Procter & Gamble said it would
phase him out of adverts. The two are
the latest companies to reevaluate their
contracts with Woods following revela-
tions about his private life. Pepsi has
been in talks over its £60m five-year
deal, while phone giant AT&T is also con-
sidering it arrangement with him.
Metro Bank to launch
Vernon Hill, a US financial entrepreneur,
is close to launching a new bank, Metro
Bank, next year with two branches in
central London.
The venture is set to go ahead if Hill gets
approval from the City regulator the
Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Metro Bank would be the first bank to
launch in the UK since the late 19th cen-
tury. The FSA is looking at a number of
other applications from businesspeople
wishing to start banks, ncluding those
from Virgin and Sandy Chen, a Panmure
Gordon banking analyst.
Google ready to release mobile
Google has released an experimental
mobile phone to employees, with access
to the public expected to be offered in
January. Asking employees to test prod-
ucts has become an established tactic
for the search engine giant. A phone
from Google has been rumoured for a
while, and could revolutionise mobile
phone use, with people using social mes-
saging services to communicate rather
than making calls, which will weaken
the position of the mobile phone net-
works. The phone is expected to be
called Nexus One. It will run the Android
operating system for mobiles.
recent years and says its refining
focus is shifting eastward.
It is planning to sell about 15 per
cent of its global refining capacity, or
600,000 barrels a day of capacity over
the next three years as it looks to
restructure, improve its profitability
and increase its efficiency.
The news comes two days after
Shell won a joint contract for one of
Iraq’s highly coveted oilfields, after a
two-day auction which was designed
to boost up the country’s crude oil
output.
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
Election and stock
shortage to keep
housing sales static
PROPERTY
▲
BY JESSICA MEAD
HOUSE asking prices are likely to
remain static in 2010 as post-election
uncertainty and continued shortage of
stock creates a challenging environ-
ment for the housing market, proper-
ty website Rightmove will say today, as
it reveals that asking prices fell for a
second consecutive month in
December.
Rightmove expects December’s 2.2
per cent drop in prices to be followed
by another drop in January as new
sellers keep dropping prices during
the traditionally weak winter quarter.
In the early spring, it is expecting
that asking prices will gain again,
continuing the heightened level of
activity seen during 2009. However,
the post-election uncertainty is fore-
cast to reverse these early gains.
Shanks set to open
its books to Carlyle
SUPPORT SERVICES
▲
BY PHILIP WALLER
WASTE management company
Shanks is set to agree to open its
books to suitor US private equity
firm Carlyle Group, it emerged yes-
terday, as a takeover battle brewed
for the firm.
Shanks is expected to sign an
agreement with Carlyle later this
week, allowing the US firm to see
its accounts after its £536m offer,
an industry source said.
The agreement is not expected
to be exclusive, meaning other
potential bidders could also gain
access to Shanks’ books.
Carlyle is talking to Shanks after
making a 135p per share offer for
the UK group last week.
Iraq will be a leading force at Opec’s
upcoming meeting, US official says
▲
ENERGY
IRAQ’S string of deals with oil
majors has catapulted it to impor-
tance ahead of Opec’s meeting in
Angola later this month, accord-
ing to the US.
The oil cartel is set to meet on 22
December, and much focus will be
on Iraq following new ambitious
output targets set by Baghdad over
the weekend.
Iraq’s “supergiant” oil fields
were auctioned off on Friday and
Saturday to energy giants includ-
ing Shell.
News 13
PROPERTY HOT SPOTS
NORTH YORKSHIRE &
Average price December ‘09 HUMBERSIDE
£140,043 Average price December ‘09
Annual Change £154,610
▼ 1.1% Annual Change
▲ 1.8%
NORTH WEST
Average price December ‘09
£155,887
Annual Change
▼ 5.3%
EAST MIDLANDS
Average price December ‘09
£158,141
Annual Change
▲ 1.4%
Miles Shipside, commercial direc-
tor at Rightmove, said: “Time may EAST ANGLIA
well be of the essence as the election Average price December ‘09
is likely to be a party pooper. This year WEST MIDLANDS £219,429
Average price December ‘09
turned out to be a good time to trade WALES £181,079 Annual Change
up, and we forecast the positive mood Average price December ‘09 ▲ 5.1%
£162,261 Annual Change
will continue into 2010 until the post- ▲ 1.1%
election hangover kicks in.” Annual Change GREATER LONDON
The recession is also forecast to ▲ 1.3% Average price December ‘09
have had a long-term structural £398,426
Annual Change
impact on the UK housing market
▲ 1.7%
whereby there will potentially be a
fall in owner-occupation, with fewer
first-time buyers, more time between SOUTH WEST
trading up, and greater reliance on Average price December ‘09
the rented sector. £242,848
In this environment, location will Annual Change
be the most important factor in insu- ▲ 2.8%
SOUTH EAST
Source: Rightmove
lating asking prices against these Average price December ‘09
structural shifts and Rightmove £277,180
expects desirable areas in the south to Annual Change
fare best. Landlords should also bene- ▲ 3.7%
fit with an end to over-supply.
ŽŶŐƌĂƚƵůĂƟŽŶƐ
WorleyParsons
Personal Health
Challenge Champions 2009
While it did not reject Carlyle’s market speculation,” a spokesman
approach, Shanks has left the door said. in the
L
open to other offers by saying a bid Under chief executive Tom
of at least 150p per share would be Drury, a former United Utilities
“appropriate”. director, Shanks has cut debt and
Other firms are believed to be sharpened its focus on recycling,
waiting in the wings with rival organic waste treatment, and the
bids, with US firm Covanta said to UK Private Finance Initiative (PFI).
have contacted Shanks’ investment
banking adviser Greenhill & Co ANALYSIS l Shanks Group
late last week to express interest. p
130 130.00
Waste management firm Sita 11 Dec
UK, part of France’s Suez
Environment, Dutch waste compa-
120 London Corporate Decathlon
ny AVR -- which is owned by private 110
Get yourƚĞĂŵĮƚĨŽƌ
equity outfits KKR and CVC Capital
Partners – and Guy Hands’ private
equity group Terra Firma are all
reportedly interested.
Shanks remained tightlipped.
100
90    
“I’m not going to comment on 80
2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
business in 2010
“WorleyParsons is very proud of the outstanding
achievement of the team in winning the Personal
Health Challenge event and with all of our activitymix
participants in finishing fourth overall.
At WorleyParsons we promote a healthy and balanced
lifestyle so it is great to see our employees
Shell led a consortium to devel- The world’s biggest oil exporter,
op a 12.6bn-barrel Southern Iraqi Saudi Arabia, has a capacity of recognised for being active and getting fit.”
oilfield – Majnoon – and pledged 12.5bpd.
to boost up daily production to If the country did hit its daily
1.8m barrels of oil a day (bpd). total of 12m barrels, Iraq would
Stuart Bradie
“They’re [Iraq] going to be a big overtake Russia and challenge Managing Director
player that wants to come back to Saudi Arabia for the position of Europe and Africa
the table, so they’re going to have the world’s largest oil producer.
to negotiate with Saudi Arabia, Hussein al-Shahristani, who is
Iran, Venezuela and the other the country’s oil minister, hailed
OPEC members,” an anonymous the weekend’s auction – the sec-
US official said. ond such auction since 2003 – a
Baghdad wants to produce 12m “major success,” saying it was “a Register for LCD2010
bpd within seven years, a massive
increase on the 2.5m it produces
right now.
big achievement for Iraq to win
such contracts at the current
prices”.
www
www.activitymix.com
.activity
i i ymix.com
i more than just fun and games.....
 14 News
SFO in Icelandic bank probe
▲
BANKING
BY RACHEL STEVENSON
THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) is
preparing to announce a formal
investigation into collapsed Icelandic
banks that operated in the UK.
The inquiry, which will examine
Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki,
follows months of intelligence gath-
ering by officials at the SFO and is
expected to be announced soon.
The SFO has been in close touch
with Eva Joly, the French special
investigator who was brought in by
the Icelandic government to look at
the flow of money between Iceland
Cash rich VT
eyes buyout
of Mouchel
▲
SUPPORT SERVICES
BY LORA COVENTRY
VT GROUP, the shipbuilder-turned-
support services company, has made
two takeover approaches for a rival, it
emerged over the weekend, as it
shifts focus away from its defence
roots.
Outsourcing and engineering
group Mouchel, whose share price
moved massively on Friday after an
interim management statement, is
thought to have snubbed the secret
offers.
The move comes as VT, which has
around £400m in cash to burn after
the sale of its shipbuilding group ear-
lier this year, prepares to switch its
FTSE listed sector from aerospace and
defence to support services a week
today.
“VT has money to spend, and tak-
ing on Mouchel would make sense,”
one industry source said. “VT wants
to extend its current footprint in
highways and local authority work,
so this move is highly logical and fits
with its strategy,” he added.
Rivals Serco and Capita are under-
stood to be waiting for a formal bid,
and are waiting to add their bids for
Mouchel if it comes.
Habitat will not be broken-up as the Deutsche Bahn to shunt
long-awaited sale to Hilco is confirmed 14,000 out of their jobs
▲
RETAIL
BY JAMES LINACRE
HABITAT’S protracted sale finally
took place yesterday, when parent
company ICAF Antillen sold the furni-
ture company to Hilco.
ICAF, acting on behalf of the
Kamprad family, which also owns
Ikea, sold Habitat Group to Retail
Investments Limited, a specialist
retail investments group led by Hilco.
There had been speculation that
Hilco would divide Habitat and pack-
and the City.
She has held meetings with SFO
officials in London and, earlier this
year, a team from the SFO travelled to
Reykjavik to meet the Icelandic
authorities, which are already con-
ducting their own investigations in to
what brought down the banks.
The Icelandic banks, which had
large customer bases in the UK, went
under last October, leaving 300,000
British savers unable to get their
money and institutions facing bil-
lions of losses. A number of charities
and local councils were among those
with stranded funds.
Following the collapse, the
Mouchel is set to report a drop in
profits in its second half, and said on
Friday it would be closing its offices
in the middle east.
VT Group is understood to have
offered around 250p a share in its
informal approaches. Mouchel’s
share price has fluctuated greatly
over the past 12 months; it closed at
190p on Friday – a 19 per cent rise
form the previous day – but has trad-
ed as high as 384p. Based on Friday’s
closing price, Mouchel’s market cap is
£213m.
VT chief executive Paul Lester has
made his desire to move into support
services very public.
VT Group declined to comment,
while Mouchel was unavailable for
comment yesterday.
ANALYSIS l Mouchel
260 p
190.00
240
11 Dec
220
200
180
160
140
14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
age it off for sale, rather than taking
it over with the intention of running
it as a going concern.
ICAF director Birger Lund moved to
allay these fears, and insisted the
management team will be retained.
He said: “We are pleased with this
outcome and that the Habitat brand
will continue and believe that the
management team is well placed to
take Habitat forward.”
Chief executive Mark Saunders,
who arrived at the helm in April and
reportedly tried to lead a buyout a
Treasury paid out £7.5bn to compen-
sate UK savers, although £2.3bn of
this will be repaid by Iceland over the
next 15 years.
Two-thirds of the bank’s corporate
clients had links to London and the
bank had relationships with a num-
ber of leading UK entrepreneurs -
including Sports Direct owner Mike
Ashley and property tycoon Robert
Tchenguiz.
Tchenguiz, the former billionaire
property investor who has lost huge
sums in the recession, was one of
Kaupthing’s biggest clients. He was
also a director of its largest sharehold-
ing institution.
RICHARD CUTHBERT:
Mouchel chief executive
BO LERENIUS:
Mouchel chairman
month ago, will remain in his post.
When he arrived it was with a
three-year plan, designed to save the
business.
“We have been given significant
committed funds and will now be
able to rapidly progress the current
business plan,” said Saunders.
The sale comes as a relief for the
Kamprad family, which had been
eager to have Habitat off next year’s
balance sheet.
The company has not made a profit
since the 2004-05 trading year.
Ex Merrill star hired by
Morgan Stanley’s Gorman
▲
BANKING
MORGAN Stanley said yesterday it
had hired former Merrill Lynch presi-
dent and chief operating officer
Gregory Fleming to run its invest-
ment management group.
Fleming -- one of the architects of
Merrill Lynch’s sale to Bank of
America -- will be president of Morgan
Stanley Investment Management. He
will also be responsible for Morgan
Stanley’s global research and will
report to incoming chief executive
PAUL LESTER:
VT Group chief executive
PAUL PINDAR:
Capita chief executive
▲
TRANSPORT
GERMANY’S national rail company,
Deutsche Bahn, is planning to cut
14,000 jobs, an unnamed board mem-
ber told a German newspaper.
The cuts are necessary because of
the ongoing effects of the economic
crisis, said a source on the rail opera-
tors’ supervisory board. But there
would be no forced redundancies
until the end of next year.
Around 240,000 people are
employed by Deutsche Bahn, with
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
James Gorman.
Fleming left Bank of America after
the deal closed in January and has
been working as a senior research
scholar at Yale University. He has
been portrayed as a key proponent of
the sale of Merrill Lynch at the height
of last year’s financial crisis despite
initial reluctance from then-Merrill
CEO John Thain. In Andrew Ross
Sorkin’s book Too Big to Fail, Fleming
was credited with getting Bank of
America to agree to pay substantial
bonuses for Merrill bankers.
BOA MERRILL
LYNCH
RBS HOARE
GOVETT
VT GROUP is being advised by Bank
of America Merrill Lynch in its
approach for Mouchel given that its
other joint broker RBS is acting for
the other side.
VT appointed BoA to be its joint
corporate broker at the end of
October, days before the support
services company completed the
divestment of its historic shipbuild-
ing arm.
It was the financial adviser for the
firm when it sold its 45 per cent
stake in BVT Surface Fleet Limited
to its joint venture partner BAE
Systems.
BoA is taking the driving seat in
the advising process, as RBS, once a
VT adviser as well, is acting as bro-
ker to the group VT is bidding for;
Mouchel.
The RBS team is headed up by Neil
Collingridge.
Collingridge this year advised on
Balfour Beatty’s rights issue and on
a shareholder loan refinancing at Tui
Travel. He also helped out with car
dealer Inchcape’s rights issue in
March.
Last year Collingridge led a team in
advising Balfour Beatty in its equity
placing.
BofA has been battling with UBS
and JP Morgan Cazenove to advise
the cream of the FTSE crop, and has
28 blue chip companies on its books.
Michael Findlay’s decision to leave
Merrill as head of UK corporate
broking rocked the boat, however,
and fears are rife that his departure,
coupled with the BofA tie-up, could
lead to client desertions.
182,000 based in Germany.
Control of the metro rail system in
Tyne and Wear recently passed to
Deutsche Bahn in a £600m renova-
tion of one of Britain’s last wholly
publicly owned rail networks.
Deutsche Bahn has been in exis-
tence for 15 years, a private joint stock
company that took over from
Germany’s state railways. It is one of
the largest infrastructure networks in
Europe.
Deutsche Bahn declined to com-
ment about the story.
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
Christmas is half time in liquidity vs worry match
to bet in the second half? Will we see
a re-run of the last six months in the
next six, or just like Liverpool FC in
that memorable Champions League
Final, could worries about debt win
through in a penalty shootout?
Certainly recent themes could
become a running sore in 2010.
CNBC COMMENT Greece’s debt downgrade, Spanish
ROSS WESTGATE debt on negative outlook and here in
the UK a pre-Budget Report which in
the City’s view completely failed to
I
T’S HALF TIME in the match and lay out any detailed plan to cut public
just before the Christmas break borrowing. One commentator, Mark
“Liquidity and Earnings” have Ostwald from Monument Securities,
strolled to a three goal lead called it a recipe for a downgrade. “Is
against the “Wall of Worry”. But how it not about time the UK went onto
Hugh Osmond
looks to buy
firms in debt
deal, which led to the sale of Pearl
▲
INVESTMENT
Group, his insurance business, to
BY RACHEL STEVENSON
American private equity investors.
HUGH Osmond, the entrepreneur The deal, which involved a debt-for-
who built up Pizza Express and equity swap with a group of banks
Punch Taverns, is amassing a £1bn and also a cash injection from New
war chest to begin a spending spree York-based Liberty of £500m, severely
on distressed companies. diluted Osmond’s combined holdings
Sun Capital, Osmond’s private and influence in the group.
equity firm, is already in the process He believes many distressed compa-
of raising capital for the venture, and nies still have strong underlying busi-
is understood to be preparing for a nesses with good management teams
stock market listing early next year. It and cash flows. He will provide capi-
is thought he will have raised around tal to help companies through
£500m in capital and will aim to raise restructuring, freeing from their debt
another £500m for when it floats. burdens and allowing them to focus
Osmond is working on a list of on future returns. He is known as a
potential targets that are struggling hands-on investor, who likes to take
with debts and are close to breaching charge of running companies.
their lending agreements. It is understood he will not be look-
The serial entrepreneur has his ing at financial services companies,
eyes fixed on the dozens of British but will be a range of sectors, particu-
companies that are close to being larly in the leisure industry where he
overwhelmed by debt. Many firms has a long track record.
used loans to finance expansion dur- Osmond and his former business
ing the boom in credit over the past partner, Luke Johnson, the outgoing
five years and are now facing difficul- chairman of Channel 4, built up
ties as their debt is due for renewal. PizzaExpress business using a similar
About £150bn of debt used to tactic. They bought sites at knock-
finance buyouts is due to be repaid by down prices during the last recession
the end of 2012. to rapidly expand the business. They
Osmond has already been through acquired the business for £18m and
a complicated debt restructuring sold it for £279m.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS
RBC Wealth Management
RBC Wealth Management has hired Shervin
Mellegard, Samuel Palmer and Neil Jeffries as a
managing director, director and wealth manag-
er respectively in the UK domestic team.
Mellegard, pictured, has over 20 years of
experience in financial services, with his career
having spanned commodities futures and secu-
rities trading at Merrill Lynch to private bank-
ing at Barclays Wealth in London.
Palmer and Jeffries both join from UBS.
Financial Services Authority of strategy and business affairs at
The City regulator has hired Graham Monitise, and has also worked as direc-
Halliday as a senior adviser, focusing tor of banking and financial services at
specifically on retail banking. the Post Office and as a regional man-
Halliday was most recently director aging director at NatWest.
To appear in CITYMOVES please email your career updates and pictures to citymoves@cityam.com
‘outlook negative’ - why wait for the
election?’’ Except of course that’s
exactly what they will do. In essence
this government is borrowing on the
credit of the next, which means no
sterling crisis unless the next govern-
ment is equally weak willed or we get
a hung parliament.
But assuming a solid enough
majority and therefore a much
tougher fiscal policy, there should be
some compensation in the form of
still loose monetary policy. The Bank
of England would find it very hard to
raise rates while taxes are going up
and spending is being cut. Of course
that doesn’t mean gilt yields won’t
BEST OF THE BROKERS
120
ANALYSIS l HMV
p
103.70
11 Dec
115
110
105
100
14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
HMV
Singer Capital Markets has maintained a
“buy” recommendation on HMV despite the
group posting reported interim results at
the lower end of its expected performance.
It said disappointment in Waterstones
could be offset by growth of sales in other
areas and cost savings at HMV. It set a tar-
get price of 174p.
Psagot is bought by private equity
group Apax after shareholder buyout
▲
PRIVATE EQUITY
PSAGOT, Israel’s largest investment
house, confirmed yesterday that it
has been bought by private equity
firm, Apax Partners.
The deal involves Apax buying a 76
per cent share of the firm from share-
holders led by York Capital
Management.
The deal is still subject to regulato-
Société Générale
The bank has appointed three new sen-
ior bankers within its coverage and
investment banking division in London.
Rolf Petermann, who becomes head
of the German and Austrian financial
institutions’ coverage team, joins from
Dresdner Kleinwort, where he was co-
head of the European financial institu-
tions group.
Vitcheslava Baranicka, formerly man-
aging director responsible for oil and
gas firms, will be in charge of Russian
and Central Asian energy sector clients,
while Dania Seiglie, formerly managing
director covering oil and gas firms in
the energy and environmental group,
will look after British energy corporates.
rise. The Bank of England will finish
up its current QE programme in
February and pre-supposing there’s
no extension, then yields on longer
dated paper are only going one way.
But for that to become a headwind
for stocks they’ll have to reach five
per cent and in the short term that
looks a stretch.
And then we look for the growth
and here we might be pleasantly sur-
prised, not necessarily for the UK but
for the rest of the world. Barclays
Capital has just issued its forecast for
2010 and reckons global growth will
hit 4.2 per cent next year and 4.1 per
cent the year after. After a contrac-
ANALYSIS l Intercontinental Hotels
900
p 903.50
11 Dec
880
860
840
820
800
780
760
740
14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS
Panmure Gordon downgraded
InterContinental Hotels Group to a “hold”
on Friday, after strong share trading near
its target price of 910p. It was in favour of
Whitbread’s Premier Inns UK chain, as IHG
has its majority stake in a cautiously recov-
ering US hotel market compared to the
more favourable UK hotel scene.
To appear in Best of the Brokers email your research to notes@cityam.com
ry approval, according to a statement
from Psagot to the Tel Aviv Stock
Exchange.
York is expected to make $263m
(£162m) capital gain from the sale.
Apax is hoping to break into the
high savings culture of Israel’s total
population of 7.5m. It believes
Psagot’s managed savings market will
grow strongly in the future.
Zehavit Cohen, head of Apax’s
Jones Lang LaSalle
The property group has hired James
Finnis as head of the English national
office agency team.
Finnis has led the firm’s southern
offices team for the past three years
and works with a broad range of clients
including leading investors, developers,
funds and corporate clients. He suc-
ceeds John Izett, who has co-led the
national offices team since joining from
Rogers Chapman in 2006.
LGIM
Legal & General Investment
Management has appointed Paul
Murray as head of investment risk.
Murray will be responsible for the
News 15
tion in 2009 and comparatively paltry
growth of 2.7 per cent in 2008, this is
some return to form.
The global companies who have cut
costs so much will only need a little
bit of growth to have a big difference
on their bottom lines. Add in still rel-
atively cheap money and the first
part of next year is unlikely to witness
an Istanbul miracle for the Wall of
Worry. Liquidity and Earnings should
do what A.C Milan couldn’t. Protect
their lead and close out a victory for
stocks in the first part of the year.
Ross Westgate co-presents Worldwide
Exchange and anchors Strictly Money each
weekday on CNBC.
ANALYSIS l Bovis Homes
500
p
372.30
11 Dec
480
460
440
420
400
380
360
340
14 Sep 2 Oct 22 Oct 11 Nov 1 Dec
BOVIS HOMES
Killik & Co initiated coverage of Bovis
Homes with a “buy”, claiming good medi-
um to long-term prospects of the UK hous-
ing market, with a finite supply of land and
a growing population likely to put pressure
on house prices.
It said Bovis Homes has nearly a third of its
exposure in the resiliant South East.
Israeli office, said: “This is a company
that we have been tracking for some
time, and we are delighted to have
the opportunity to support a very
strong management team in its next
phase of growth.”
York, an 18-year-old hedge fund
managing over $3bn in assets, took a
100 per cent stake of Psagot over
three years ago from Bank Leumi for
just under $300m.
Edited by Victoria Bates
independent measuring, monitoring and
development of risk for the firm’s active
fund management business. He joins
from F&C Asset Management, where
was head of risk management for alter-
native investments.
Prior to that, he worked in senior risk
management roles for Synapse
Investment Management, Rothschild
Australia and ANZ Bank.
Berwin Leighton Paisner
The law firm has relocated Caroline
Pope, previously a construction partner
in its London office, to Abu Dhabi,
where it opened an office in March this
year. She has been a partner at the
firm since 2001.
 Investment
16
Gilt prices fall
off a cliff after
Darling’s PBR
Labour’s fiscal complacency is a chance to
go short on UK gilts, writes Jessica Mead
I
T IS probably fair to say that chan-
cellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget
Report (PBR) has failed to calm
investors’ fears over the state of the
country’s public finances. In spite of yet
another warning that Britain’s prized
triple-A credit rating on sovereign debt
was at risk, Darling slackened the pace
of fiscal tightening over the next few
years and left £30bn of cuts post-2014
still unaccounted for.
In response, gilt yields surged to 3.80
per cent on 10-year government debt, as
bond investors concluded that there had
been a lack of progress in tackling the
budget deficit and consequently
demanded more compensation for hold-
ing the asset in their portfolios.
During trading on Thursday, the cost
of borrowing 10-year UK gilts compared
to German 10-year bunds widened 10
basis points to 81. Short maturity gilts
held up better, but everything with
maturities longer than five years saw
yields increase by around 10-14 basis
points on the day.
So what does this mean for spread bet-
ters? With gilt yields surging – and
therefore prices falling – spread betters
could look to go short on UK gilts in the
anticipation that investors will remain
concerned about the fiscal black hole as
demand slackens and government
issuance of bonds underpins supply.
How likely is this scenario to contin-
ue? Well, Chris Alexander, analyst at
financial services firm Fortis, said: “We
suspect that gilt yields have further to
rise. The damage to the gilt market was
| Spread Betting
somewhat self-inflicted with responsibil-
ity resting with the PBR’s woeful lack of
fiscal credibility.”
And although Britain’s triple-A status
is safe for now – ratings agency Moody’s
said on Thursday it did not believe the
UK would face any problems with issu-
ing the required amount of debt –
Alistair Darling’s fiscal complacency
may unfortunately just be the beginning
of the story. Britain is at risk of following
in the footsteps of both Dubai and
Greece and is walking into a gilts crisis.
GARGANTUAN SHORTFALL
Indeed, Henderson’s chief economist
Simon Ward notes: “By delaying deficit-
cutting until 2011-12, the chancellor is
relying on the kindness of the gilt mar-
ket as it takes over responsibility from
the Bank of England for funding the cur-
rent gargantuan shortfall. A big rise in
gilt yields could yet derail his economic
and fiscal strategy.”
Unless Britain brings down its budget
deficit sharply, there is a serious risk
that UK sovereign debt will be down-
graded, making it more expensive for
the government to service the debt. A
debt downgrade may also deter some
international investors from snapping
up gilts at a time when the government
needs to issue a record number.
Barclays Capital economist Simon
Hayes says that the detail of the fiscal
forecast offers little to persuade him
that the Treasury has yet delivered the
necessary fiscal consolidation.
“Indeed, the public sector debt/GDP
+44 (0) 207 170 0770
LONDON MAIN
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
Beware of vertiginous ratio is forecast to rise over the course of (IFS) estimated at the end of last week
falls. Picture: GETTY the period to 76.2 per cent, just below that net debt as a percentage of GDP
the critical 80 per cent level that is seen would remain high for a generation. And
as a threshold for AAA issuers,” he even worse, if the government does
added. nothing to address the growing impact
Indeed, the Institute for Fiscal Studies of an ageing population on the public
finances, then net debt could be sus-
ANALYSIS l UK debt to remain high for a generation Source: IFS tained at an astonishing 60 per cent of
% GDP. Prior to the financial crisis and the
Budget 2008 global recession, the government aimed
80
Budget 2009 to keep net debt at below 40 per cent of
PBR 2009 GDP.
60 PBR 2008 (incl ageing) With the outlook for the public
finances still dismal, there is likely to be
a lot of volatility in the gilt markets over
40 the next six months in the wake of the
both the spring Budget and the general
20 election.
Spread betters should get to grips with
this once staid market now and prepare
0 themselves for an exciting 2010 that will
76 81 86 91 96 01 06 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 see sharp moves in gilts.
0800 358 0864 gftuk.com
UK FREEPHONE W E B , L I V E C H AT
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
Punt on pints with
the King of pubcos
Despite the recent spat with Fuller’s, Greene King
remains the pick of the brewers, says Jessica Mead
A
RGUMENTS over beer are nothing
new, but it was still interesting this
week when brewers Greene King
and Fuller’s started arguing about
whose beer is the capital’s best-seller.
Traditionally, Fuller’s London Pride has
held the top spot, but its rival claimed this
week that its Abbot Ale has overtaken it. It
turns out that Pride is still number one –
with 81,000 barrels a year drunk – while
Abbot is the top premium ale.
The spat might seem meaningless, but
it highlighted just how fierce is the com-
petition in the brewing world at the
moment. The pub industry is facing an
extremely tough 2010. Consumer confi-
dence is still relatively weak, which means
that Britons are still watching their spend-
ing closely and choosing to drink at home
to cut costs. Going to the pub is still seen
as a relative luxury, especially compared
to buying alcohol at the supermarket.
Brewers such as Fuller, Smith and
Turner, Young & Co and Greene King man-
aged to post decent pre-tax profits in the
first half of the financial year of £14.1m,
£11.46m and £62m respectively.
But all three noted trading conditions
would be challenging with Fuller’s chair-
man Michael Turner saying that many of
the factors that boosted the firm’s first-
half profits – incremental earnings from
acquisitions, record low interest rates, a
pay freeze and better weather – may not
repeat or even reverse next year.
Spread betters who fancy a punt on the
brewers should note that of the three
mentioned, analysts have picked Greene
King as the best bet. Its long-term invest-
ment case remains strong. It has a strong
balance sheet – reflected in its 5.1x net
debt to core profits – the lowest of the
large pub groups.
Hugh-Guy Lorriman at investment bank
Seymour Pierce says: “We see Greene King
as a quality play in the sector. With its
THE TIPSTER
SPORTS DIRECT
A BUY FOR
CHRISTMAS
S
PORTS retailer Sports Direct is contin-
uing to do well, rising to as high as 110p
last week after opening Monday’s trad-
ing session at 102p. The stock lost some
ground towards the end of the week, but there
could be another recovery to come in the run
up to Christmas. ShortsandLongs.com has a
rolling spread of 98.9p-99.5p.
After 1 January, VAT goes back up to 17.5
per cent and the UK consumer will really take
a bashing. Retailers are expected to struggle
as a result so it might be time to go short on
high-street names such as Marks&Spencer.
Capital Spreads offers a price of 401.6-402.3.
Last week, Investec upgraded platinum
mining giant Lonmin to buy from hold and
lifted its target price on the stock to 2,075p
from 1,525p.
This could be an opportunity for spread
betters to jump into the stock at low levels.
IG Index is offering 1,782.2p-1,786.8p.
The price of spot gold has fallen over 7 per
Propping up the
brewers. financial and operational strengths as well
Picture: Jason as its long term diversified business model
Alden/CITY A.M. we see the company as a classic case where
investors should look through the cycle.”
It looks like Fuller’s isn’t just facing com-
petition from Greene King at the bar.
Sports Direct may see cent in the last week from its all-time record
a recovery in the run
up to Christmas.
high of $1,226, triggered by the surprisingly
stronger non farm payrolls out of the US and
a strengthening US dollar.
With gold prices trading sideways for the
last three days, will the recent fall be enough
to encourage traders to buy back? City Index
was offering a spot gold price of $1,127.1 -
$1,127.6.
Tips last week to sell miners Vedanta
Resources and Petropavlovsk proved suc-
cessful and there could be further to fall in
both stocks.
IG Index is offering a December spread on
Vedanta of 2,393.5p-2,405.1p and a daily
spread on Petropavlovsk of 1,192p-1,199p.
SIR RANULPH
FIENNES
SEE INTERVIEW
ON PAGE 19
TAKING A VIEW | Trading Outlook
BREAKDOWN
IN RISK TRADE
NEXT YEAR
JANE FOLEY
RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COM
C
OUNTRIES’ public finances have
dominated the headlines in recent
weeks, but there is a good chance
that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Whether it is wobbles in Dubai, debt down-
grades in Greece, deteriorating outlooks in
Spain and Ireland, or a pre-Budget Report
in the UK, all of these countries have a long
way to go before they are out of the woods.
Only Ireland has arguably moved closer
to resolving its budget woes – but last
week’s brutal spending cuts are likely to be
followed by more tough budget measures
before things can be said to be truly
improving.
This focus on countries’ credit worthi-
ness will continue well into 2010 – it is a
natural evolution of the repair process of
financial markets, in more ways than one.
At the height of the crisis, few argued
against the need for a huge fiscal response
from governments, but spending binges
must eventually be paid for.
Furthermore, high levels of unemploy-
ment will only exacerbate the size of the
deficit and taint the budgets of all indus-
trialised countries, not just those affected
by property bubbles and banking crises.
This will have an impact on the market’s
perception of these countries’ budget
deficits and their credit worthiness.
The market’s willingness to differentiate
between risk on a country or regional level
is an important part of the repair process
in financial markets. Credit worthiness is
at the core of any assessment of risk and
its ranking of risk should be instrumental
to the pricing of assets and currencies.
STRONG CORRELATION
But during the course of 2009, a strong
correlation has been sustained between
stocks, oil prices, the S&P 500 and euro-
yen, while the dollar index has been
inversely correlated with these risky
assets. An exception was Aussie dollar-US
dollar, which started the year trading in
line with risky assets. Since the spring
though, Australia’s good economic funda-
mentals have allowed it to outperform.
Even though the overall rally in risk
since the spring suggests that broad-
based fear has been dispersing, strong cor-
relations between some risky assets
persist. Forecasts of slow levels of growth
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17
for most of the G10 in 2010 suggests that
there are still a few more negative shocks
in store for the markets in the coming
months.
That said, reduced levels of fear should
allow fundamentals, including assessments
of credit worthiness, to play a greater part
in asset allocations. This is likely to result
in a breakdown in many of the correlations
that have characterised markets over the
past year. Rather than move indiscrimi-
nately in and out of risk, markets will
gradually return to assessing individual
markets and sectors on their merits.
For the FX market, the big question is
when the dollar will give up its negative
correlation with risk. The answer is clearly
when the greenback is no longer consid-
ered to be a funding currency. The reaction
to the much better-than-expected
December payrolls report brought forward
the perceived risk of a Fed rate hike and
thus has given the market a taste of a
stronger dollar.
CYCLICAL RECOVERY
It is possible that the dollar has entered
the first phase of a cyclical recovery
against the euro, although it remains by
no means certain whether there will be
sufficient momentum in the US economy
for the Fed to start hiking interest rates
before the second half of next year. Given
this risk, more good US data will be need-
ed to stop euro-dollar rising back up
towards $1.49 over the coming few
months.
Assuming the dollar does enter cyclical
recovery against the single currency over
the first half of 2010, this does not have to
mean the end to the risk trade – instead,
the risk trade will evolve. It is quite feasi-
ble that the greenback will continue its
downward adjustment against other cur-
rencies while simultaneously rising or
remaining stable against the euro.
Strong growth in the Asian region sug-
gests that the dollar may continue to fall
against the Australian dollar as well as
against some Asian and other high-yield
currencies next year, assuming the global
economy remains on the path back to
health.
ResearchEMEA@forex.com
 18 Markets & Investment CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009

LONDON’S TOP 250

Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low Company Name Closing Price Price Change 52wk High 52wk low
(p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p) (p)
3i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277.30* +1.60 314.80 108.66 Croda Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .759.00 +7.50 811.00 440.00 Kesa Electricals . . . . . . . . . . . . .157.30 –1.20 162.00 79.75 Schroders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1216.00 +6.00 1274.00 628.00
3i Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . .101.20* +1.80 105.80 76.50 CSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .368.80 –14.40 524.00 152.00 .LQJÀVKHU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235.30 +1.30 249.10 115.00 Schroders N/V. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1001.00 +4.00 1033.00 533.50
A.B. Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .808.50* –2.00 870.50 603.00 Daily Mail ‘A’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .403.90* –1.10 467.30 205.75 Ladbrokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136.10 +0.90 213.49 114.60 Scot. & Sthrn Energy. . . . . . . . . 1107.00 +10.00 1279.00 357.50
Aberdeen Asset Man . . . . . . . . . .136.30* +1.80 155.60 92.00 Dana Petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . . 1173.00 +13.00 1549.00 807.00 Lancashire Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . .426.50* –0.70 540.00 390.00 Scottish Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . .431.50 –1.00 444.90 324.75
Admiral. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107.00 –11.00 1188.00 793.50 Davis Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381.20 –5.00 438.00 213.75 Land Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .638.00* +3.00 1051.00 323.25 Scottish Mortgage. . . . . . . . . . . .512.00 –2.00 527.00 284.00
Aegis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117.30 +3.70 122.90 61.00 De La Rue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .970.00* –3.50 1080.00 808.50 Legal & General . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75.90 –1.35 94.40 20.90 SEGRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331.90 +0.80 403.10 250.00
Aggreko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .803.50 +6.00 816.50 342.00 Debenhams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82.80 –1.55 99.50 22.00 Liberty International . . . . . . . . . .460.10 –0.30 580.00 278.00
Alliance Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311.50 +0.70 325.20 233.00 Derwent London . . . . . . . . . . . .1268.00 +10.00 1418.00 445.50 Lloyds Banking Gp . . . . . . . . . . . .56.22 –2.00 111.87 21.97 Serco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .517.50 +1.50 546.50 341.50
AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .773.00* +3.00 879.50 465.00 Dexion Absolute . . . . . . . . . . . . .132.50 +0.50 136.70 69.00 Logica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109.20 — 136.80 57.50 Severn Trent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1045.00* +20.00 1236.00 921.00
Amlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .364.80 –0.20 400.00 291.00 Diageo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1053.00 +7.00 1079.00 727.00 London Stock Exchange . . . . . . .694.50* –19.00 949.50 355.75 Shaftesbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .370.40 –5.30 426.50 184.32
Anglo American . . . . . . . . . . . .2560.00 +37.00 2766.00 906.00 Dimension Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73.30 +0.05 82.80 32.75 Lonmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1764.00 +35.00 1943.00 624.53 Shire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1159.00 –5.00 1213.00 764.00
Antofagasta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .915.50 +16.50 949.50 367.75 Drax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .413.40 +5.80 644.50 393.75 Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309.80* –6.10 373.60 150.40 SIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109.60 +3.70 230.00 82.25
Aquarius Platinum . . . . . . . . . . .347.00 +5.50 392.20 128.62 DSG Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35.00 +0.09 39.75 9.96 Marks & Spencer. . . . . . . . . . . . .400.90* +0.90 408.30 207.50 Smith & Nephew . . . . . . . . . . . . .620.00 +12.00 622.00 401.00
ARM Holdings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169.30 +2.10 179.00 77.50 Dunelm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .412.00* –8.00 438.40 121.50 Marston’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92.90 +3.05 141.37 63.87 Smiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .988.50 — 1002.00 646.50
Arriva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .465.00 +4.90 641.00 361.00 Easyjet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346.40 –3.40 416.80 246.50 Meggitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242.20 +3.00 267.10 110.50 SOCO Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1316.00 –5.00 1500.00 885.50
Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255.30 –1.20 311.20 92.75 Edinburgh Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . .361.00 –1.50 368.50 283.75 Melrose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169.30 –2.70 198.20 58.25 Spectris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .695.00 –9.50 763.50 376.75
Astrazeneca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2823.00 +27.00 2966.00 2126.00 Electrocomponents . . . . . . . . . . .163.60* –0.20 176.00 113.00 Mercantile IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .838.50 –2.50 964.00 515.50 Spirax-Sarco Eng . . . . . . . . . . .1098.00 –16.00 1195.00 741.00
Atkins(Ws) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .614.50 +7.00 747.50 415.00 Enterprise Inns . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103.10 +2.50 192.75 30.50 Michael Page Intl. . . . . . . . . . . . .365.90 +5.80 375.00 171.25 Spirent Comms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93.50 +0.50 100.60 32.00
Autonomy Corp . . . . . . . . . . . .1512.00 +25.00 1687.00 867.00 Eurasian Nat Res . . . . . . . . . . . .873.50 –1.50 965.00 291.00 Micro Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .444.00 +6.50 454.25 256.25 Sports Direct Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98.50 –0.60 134.00 32.00
Aveva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .950.00 +7.50 1083.00 460.00 Experian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .619.50 +18.50 626.50 370.75 Millen & Copthorne . . . . . . . . . . .355.00 +9.50 411.90 165.50 SSL Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .715.00 –1.00 756.50 422.75
Aviva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .370.60 +2.10 474.00 160.10 F&C Comm Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83.50* +0.90 90.00 73.50 Misys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203.60 –1.70 238.80 90.75 St James’s Place . . . . . . . . . . . . .235.10 –2.70 296.90 142.75
Babcock International . . . . . . . . .608.50 +1.50 660.50 381.25 Ferrexpo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188.00* +2.20 228.40 27.00 Mitchells & Butlers . . . . . . . . . . .258.10 –1.90 310.60 136.50
BAE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .342.70 +2.90 416.00 294.20 Fidelity European . . . . . . . . . . .1096.00 –1.00 1182.00 753.00 MITIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230.20 +6.50 281.70 170.25 Stagecoach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164.90 +4.30 173.80 102.75
Balfour Beatty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251.60 +2.90 346.18 243.40 FirstGroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388.10 –8.40 448.80 192.90 Mondi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336.50 +8.10 361.80 118.25 Standard Chartered . . . . . . . . . .1509.50 –0.50 1696.00 554.00
Barclays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288.00* –2.75 390.00 47.30 Foreign & Col Inv Tst. . . . . . . . . .264.80 –0.10 269.20 179.25 Monks Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273.20 –0.30 298.60 190.00 Standard Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207.50 — 283.00 123.50
Barratt Development . . . . . . . . . . 111.70 +1.70 193.31 35.41 Fresnillo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .814.00 +24.00 935.00 138.20 Morrison Wm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .277.10 –3.50 298.40 233.50 Talvivaara Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .374.50 +1.50 428.00 102.75
BBA Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154.00 +0.90 184.20 41.00 G4S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255.70 +5.60 258.50 171.90 Mothercare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .660.00 –4.50 668.00 325.00 Tate & Lyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .418.00* +0.40 481.40 225.75
Beazley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100.30 –0.20 122.00 86.00 GKN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.90 +5.30 131.30 36.45 Murray Intl Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .764.00 –3.50 800.00 512.00 Taylor Wimpey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33.39 +0.38 54.90 8.75
Bellway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .713.50* +12.50 927.50 515.00 GlaxoSmithKline . . . . . . . . . . . .1303.00* +5.00 1323.00 982.00 National Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .645.00* +0.50 717.00 511.00 Telecity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .368.90 +18.90 379.30 135.00
Berkeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .822.50 +12.00 1071.00 716.50 Go-Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1267.00 +22.00 1577.00 845.00 Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2043.00* +32.00 2075.00 1009.00 Templeton Emrg Mkts . . . . . . . . .508.50 — 514.50 235.00
BG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1067.50 –0.50 1180.00 836.50 Great Portland Estates . . . . . . . .268.10* –1.10 298.80 127.11 Northumbrian Water . . . . . . . . . .268.80 +1.80 281.90 203.00 Tesco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .416.85* –2.15 437.05 301.40
BHP Billiton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1875.00 +25.00 1969.00 1025.00 Greene King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424.10 +6.10 547.45 279.35 Old Mutual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105.90 –0.20 122.30 30.50 Thomas Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227.10 +8.60 303.50 164.60
BlackRock Mining . . . . . . . . . . . .535.00 +3.50 565.00 211.00 Halfords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .417.30 +6.20 442.10 216.75 Pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197.60* — 243.80 39.50 Tomkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187.50 +5.00 199.30 99.50
BlueBay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292.00 –18.00 393.00 63.00 Halma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246.70 –2.40 256.00 140.75 Partygaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256.50 +5.20 298.50 119.25 Travis Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .802.00 +30.50 888.00 198.63
BP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .575.20 +1.50 599.30 400.00 Hammerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .384.80 –2.40 624.50 212.25 Pearson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .869.00 +7.00 876.00 566.50 TUI Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259.00 +8.50 294.75 208.25
Brit Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181.50 –0.60 245.00 157.75 Hargreaves Lansdown . . . . . . . .271.30 –1.70 299.90 157.00 Pennon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .504.50 +3.50 566.50 372.00 Tullett Prebon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292.50 –9.10 436.20 105.25
British Airways . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201.30 –1.00 243.30 111.30 Hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98.10 +0.80 114.00 67.00 Persimmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .425.30 +1.80 534.50 223.50
British Amer. Tob . . . . . . . . . . .1958.50 +18.50 2012.00 1481.00 Henderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121.30 –1.70 142.10 49.75 Petrofac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .957.50 +3.00 1078.00 306.00 Tullow Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1250.00 –2.00 1311.00 514.00
British Empire Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . 411.40* +2.30 451.80 304.00 Heritage Oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .429.00 –1.70 630.00 161.00 Petropavlovsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1186.00 +39.00 1343.00 288.00 UK Commercial Prop. . . . . . . . . . .74.00 +1.25 77.50 50.50
British Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .441.00 –2.60 535.26 295.00 Hikma Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . .513.50 –0.50 523.50 288.50 Premier Farnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175.00 +1.20 180.60 112.50 Ultra Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . .1352.00 +34.00 1379.00 1010.00
Britvic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390.50* +12.10 402.00 204.25 Hiscox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300.00 –3.00 364.30 272.50 Premier Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33.20 –0.31 47.00 22.00 Unilever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1878.00* +15.00 1901.00 1226.00
Brown(N.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243.70* –0.30 275.80 183.75 Hochschild Mining . . . . . . . . . . .306.10 +4.70 366.40 66.75 Premier Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1070.00 +5.00 1431.00 512.78 United Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .501.00 +7.50 642.00 429.00
BSkyB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .578.00 +13.50 593.00 398.25 Home Retail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298.70* –5.60 336.50 180.40 Provident Financial . . . . . . . . . . .912.50 –2.50 986.00 736.00 Utd Business Media . . . . . . . . . .435.00 +0.50 540.00 364.75
BT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142.10 –0.60 151.00 70.20 Homeserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1638.00* — 1752.00 849.50 Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .603.00 –5.50 665.00 195.40 Vedanta Resources . . . . . . . . . .2390.00* +75.00 2510.00 492.75
Bunzl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .657.00* +10.00 679.50 473.00 HSBC Hldgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .703.40* –9.60 766.80 270.37 PZ Cussons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257.00 +1.50 274.60 136.50 Victrex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .805.00 +15.50 840.50 400.75
Burberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .585.50 +16.50 617.00 194.25 Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .480.60 +4.20 578.50 367.00 Qinetiq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165.00 — 179.10 123.00 Vodafone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141.55* +0.60 148.00 111.20
Cable & Wireless. . . . . . . . . . . . .142.00* –0.50 170.00 125.10 ICAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .423.30 +0.60 478.30 199.20 Randgold Resources. . . . . . . . .5015.00 +26.00 5450.00 2425.00 VT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .541.50* +2.00 606.00 412.75
Cadbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .790.50 –1.00 819.50 484.25 IG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .360.00 –3.30 373.00 159.25 Reckitt Benckiser . . . . . . . . . . .3279.00 +88.00 3288.00 2390.00 Weir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .684.50 +7.50 771.00 297.00
Cairn Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3081.00 +7.00 3197.00 1651.00 Imagination Tech Gp . . . . . . . . . .217.80 –1.30 250.00 33.50 Reed Elsevier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .479.50 +5.30 570.00 403.75 Wetherspoon(J.D.) . . . . . . . . . . .444.90 +0.90 551.00 270.00
Caledonia Invs . . . . . . . . . . . . .1580.00* +5.00 1759.00 1081.00 IMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .515.50 +2.00 552.00 214.00 Regus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87.80 +1.25 120.50 43.00 WH Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .522.00 +0.50 551.00 306.75
Capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .731.50 +9.50 791.00 608.00 Imperial Tobacco. . . . . . . . . . . .1901.00 +19.00 1983.00 1412.00 Rentokil Initial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99.05 +1.05 119.70 36.00 Whitbread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1330.00* +40.00 1358.00 686.50
Carillion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300.90 +5.60 319.60 192.00 Inchcape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27.13 +0.13 36.74 5.82 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78.85 –0.40 112.00 77.45 William Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187.10 +0.80 243.25 136.45
Carnival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2120.00 +35.00 2218.00 1224.00 Informa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296.10 +7.80 339.10 216.00 Rexam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286.00 +5.50 328.55 188.89
Carpetright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .902.00 –5.00 970.00 311.00 Inmarsat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .659.00 +4.50 682.00 378.25 Rightmove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .464.00 –10.00 610.50 156.25 Witan Inv Tst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .422.00 –0.50 433.70 276.50
Carphone Warehouse . . . . . . . . .188.00* +2.10 216.10 84.75 Intercontl Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . .903.50 +13.00 909.00 433.75 Rio Tinto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3134.00 +39.00 3354.50 1102.02 Wolseley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1237.00 +32.00 1570.00 907.03
Catlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320.30 –0.50 401.79 270.00 Intermediate Capital . . . . . . . . . .271.20* –3.00 332.00 79.71 RIT Capital Partners . . . . . . . . . .995.00 +17.50 1030.00 715.00 Wood Group (John). . . . . . . . . . .286.10 +1.20 354.90 175.00
Centrica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265.60 +4.20 288.75 212.50 Intertek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1215.00 +18.00 1368.00 666.00 Rolls Royce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .489.50* +7.70 504.50 252.50 WPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .613.50 +23.50 615.00 349.75
Charter Intl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .704.00 –3.00 778.50 301.00 Intl Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295.10 +7.90 308.80 190.60 Rotork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167.00 –6.00 1267.00 667.50 Xstrata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1047.00 +15.00 1175.00 288.75
Chemring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2758.00 –13.00 2917.00 1794.00 Invensys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282.90* +1.30 314.60 136.00 Royal Bank Of Scot . . . . . . . . . . . .30.56 –0.78 68.30 10.00 Yell Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39.83 –1.17 86.00 11.75
Close Bros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .700.00 –2.00 806.50 384.25 Investec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .421.70* +4.00 487.20 164.75 Royal Dutch Shell A . . . . . . . . .1817.00 –6.00 1944.00 1362.00
Cobham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246.90* +1.80 248.20 163.90 ITV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52.05 +0.40 58.65 16.50 Royal Dutch Shell B . . . . . . . . .1749.00 –6.00 1897.00 1315.00 LONDON TOP 250 BY MARKET CAPITALISATION
COLT Telecom . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125.00 –0.60 138.00 49.00 Jardine Lloyd Thompson. . . . . . .445.70 –6.80 517.00 387.75 RSA Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116.70 –0.50 152.90 113.10
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .461.00 +11.60 463.10 275.00 Johnson Matthey . . . . . . . . . . .1500.00* +17.00 1641.00 856.50 SABMiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1822.00* +35.00 1853.00 906.00 * Ex-Dividend † Suspended
Connaught . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .377.10 +2.20 448.30 292.50 JPMorgan Emerg Mkts . . . . . . . .478.00 +7.00 486.00 265.00 Sage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231.60 –0.50 239.20 157.70
Cookson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .408.20 +15.40 481.40 202.75 Kazakhmys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1253.00 +27.00 1345.00 187.30 Sainsbury(J) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319.20* +0.60 373.00 284.50 www.interactivedata.com

MARTIN ONTHE ECONOMIC DIARY

MARKETS MONDAY 14 DECEMBER
UK

4"-&  61
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0''
Rightmove house prices (12am)
Bank of England Bulletin (12am)
Eurozone
Third quarter employment (10am)
October industrial production (10am)
Japan
'30. '30. October industrial production (4.30am)

46*54
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TUESDAY 15 DECEMBER

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November RICS house prices (12am)
MARTIN SLANEY #6:(&5
#6:

(&5 November CPI and RPI (9.30am)
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Markets set to 
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December ZEW survey (10am)
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US

start on the front

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WEDNESDAY 16 DECEMBER
foot after strong 
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*Terms & Conditions apply see in store & online for details. Offers may vary online.
retail sales and Eurozone
November CPI (10am)
US

sentiment figures tive yet unsettled by the chance of

imminently higher interest rates,
and the effect that such a move
that rates will be kept low for an
“extended period”, there could well
be a relief rally.
November CPI (1.30pm)
Third quarter current account (1.30pm)
THURSDAY 17 DECEMBER
could have on any fragile recovery. Martin Slaney is Director of Global UK
UK AND EUROPEAN markets are set This week more US data will test Dealing Operations, GFT November retail sales (9.30am)
to start the week on the front foot, the market's nerves, such as indus- CBI December Distributive Trades
with the momentum following the trial production and leading indica- Eurozone
continued streak of better-than- tors, and these have the potential October construction output
expected data out from the States. to reinforce or dash the growing US
GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 to hopes that an American economic ANALYSIS l FTSE100 5,261.57 December Philadelphia Fed (3pm)
open up 10 points from Friday's recovery has finally got its skates 11 Dec Bernanke confirmation (3pm)
close, at a level of around 5,271. The on. FRIDAY 18 DECEMBER
German DAX is also expected high- The highlight for traders is on 5,300 UK
er, up 12 points at 5,768 and the Wednesday when we have the Third quarter investment (9.30am)
French CAC is forecast to open at result of the latest Federal Reserve 5,200 November mortgages (9.30am)
3,812, up 9 points. policy meeting. Whilst another no- November public finances (9.30am)
Friday’s reassuring retail sales change decision is widely expected, 5,100 November M4 money supply (9.30am)
and consumer sentiment numbers it’s the accompanying statement Eurozone
come on the heels of similarly sur- which will be scoured for the Fed’s 5,000 October ECB current account (9am)
prisingly strong non-farm payrolls intentions on the timing of any German December IFO survey (9am)
data, so the prevailing mood for future rate hikes. If it contains the 4,900 Japan
many markets appears quietly posi- words everyone will be looking for, 23 Sep 13 Oct 2 Nov 20 Nov 10 Dec Bank of Japan Target Rate
 Lifestyle
Taking on the
rat race, the
Fiennes way
The world’s greatest explorer tells Timothy
Barber that you are nothing without rivals
I
F YOU thought there wasn’t much
of a parallel to be drawn between
sitting in the comfort of your
office and trekking through a
polar blizzard in the world’s most
unforgiving wilderness, think again.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the explorer and
adventurer who probably knows more
about the latter than anyone else on
Earth, believes that what makes a suc-
cessful businessperson tick isn’t so far
removed from what makes him keep
conquering places people just aren’t
meant to conquer.
“Being entrepreneurial under one’s
own steam, being prepared to go out
on a limb independently is what it’s all
about,” he says. “When you find there
are obstacles you don’t immediately
get put off by them, you have to think
laterally to get round them and have
that element of adventure – the
courage and spirit to attack.”
Fiennes’s take on lateral problem
solving can be famously blunt. After a
failed attempt to walk solo to the
North Pole in 2000 resulted in severe
frostbite to the fingers on his left hand,
his response on returning home was to
hack off the fingertips in his garden
shed rather than wait months for sur-
gery. His career in the SAS was cur-
tailed when, offended by an unsightly
dam built in a Wiltshire village for a
film set, he used his expertise to blow
it up.
It’s that same gung-ho sense of der-
ring-do that this year took Fiennes to
the top of Mount Everest, the first per-
son in 37 years to summit the world’s
highest peak having already crossed
both polar ice caps. At 65, he’s also
Britain’s first OAP to successfully climb
the mountain – not bad for a man who
is missing fingers and suffers from
chronic vertigo. Then there’s the small
matter of his weakened heart, for
which he had double bypass surgery a
few years ago, and which had con-
tributed to his failing to conquer
OUT OF OFFICE
ZOE STRIMPEL
BOO SAVILLE
British artist Boo Saville has created a
collection of prints that should
be unsettling but are actually
calming and contemplative –
and quite beautiful. Her
Ghost series works from
images of dead bodies that
Saville has found in books
and the internet, but she
lifts and changes the
images through drawing
and burning them to
bring out their totemic
quality. Etchings available
from £750 at Other Criteria, 36
New Bond Street. W1S 2RP, 020 Have a camp
7629 5800, www.othercriteria.com. Christmas in Camden 7482 5757.
CHINESE DINING 19
IN THE CITY
| Interview SEE TOMORROW’S
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Ranulph Fiennes is
planning his next
expedition.
Picture: REX
Everest on a previous attempt. But as in
business, Fiennes says, it makes a dif-
ference when overcoming those obsta-
cles comes with some stiff
competition.
“Life is a rat race, and it helps enor-
mously if you know you’ve got rivals,”
he says. His are the Norwegians, as
they were for Robert Falcon Scott, the
man Fiennes describes as the greatest
polar explorer of all time, and in
whose defence he wrote an acclaimed
book. Fiennes won’t shed light on his
next polar adventure in case the
Norwegians get wind of it and try to
do it first, and the country’s leading
explorer Borge Ousland – a mere
stripling in his 40s – previously came
within a couple of hours of beating
Fiennes to the top of Everest, having
also crossed both ice caps.
“Like us, they have some kind of
endemic thing in their nature that
they want to deal with the big geo-
graphical, polar challenges of our
time,” he says. “And we both want to be
first – it’s the highly competitive side
of human nature, and that challenge is
what keeps you going when you’re
weak and really, really hurting.”
This autumn Fiennes published a
book tracing his family back to its ori-
gins – his direct ancestors include the
first crusader “king” of Jerusalem, a
baron who cuckolded Edward II, and
Charlamagne. So does the world’s
greatest living explorer think much
about his own place in history? Not a
bit of it.
“I think about planning the next
expedition, not about what happens
when you’re dead. If you worry about
your own place in posterity, you’re just
ensuring you get there sooner.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is working with
Glenfiddich whisky to inspire men to realise
their true pioneering potential. See
www.glenfiddich.com for advice from Sir
Ranulph and others.
GLOBE GIRLS
If you like outrageous outfits, singing
and dancing, look no further than the
drag spectacular The Globe Girls, who
are presenting a “Christmas crack-
er” performance at Gilgamesh
restaurant in Camden tonight.
Sporting a host of wigs and out-
rageous costumes, they’ll per-
form and dance routines from all
eras while you enjoy Ian
Pengelley’s Asian cooking. Three-
course menu for £55, including a
glass of champagne. Shows at 7
and 9:30pm at Gilgamesh,
Camden Stables Market, Chalk
Farm Road, NW1 8AH, Tel: 020
 20 Lifestyle | Travel CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009

Sun, sea and

Hinduism all
come together
in Mauritius
Friendly, hot and beautiful, this is the
perfect winter escape, says Zoe Strimpel

T
HE first thing that you notice about
Mauritius is that it is a real place. By
that I mean that it is a contrast to its
holiday competitors in the Indian
Ocean, the Seychelles and Maldives. They
are made up of dozens of tiny islands
which are often owned by resorts and
have been turned into pristine paradises.
Mauritius, on the other hand, is a cohesive
piece of land, an island nation, with hills
and valleys and nice bits and less nice bits.
This is a big part of its charm.
Technically, the Republic includes the
heavenly islands of Rodrigues (600 miles
northeast) and Reunion (120 miles to the
southwest) and a couple more, but those
are far away, and the vast bulk of the
action, politically and culturally, takes
place on the main island, just 61km long
and 47km wide.
Mauritius is poor, as you notice the
moment you leave the airport, but there is
a sense of industry, particularly in the cap-
ital of Port Louis, a fumey city with –
among its high rises – a branch of Ernst
and Young, and a big port. The other thing
you notice immediately is Hinduism –
colourful temples and shrines pop up by
the road at unexpected moments, lying
cheek by jowl with Catholic churches and
mosques – 52 per cent of the population is
Hindu, 28 per cent are Roman Catholic
and 17 per cent are Muslim. The country is
instantly appealing thanks to its cultural
fabric being so visible.
We were driven to our hotel through
sugar cane fields (the country’s main
export) and shady villages composed of
shacks, schools and fruit vendors, to a dif-
ferent world entirely.
AFFORDABLE AND FUNKY
Our first stop was Tamassa, a new four-star
resort on the less developed south coast of
the island, near the town of Bel Ombre.
Despite major teething problems, the
place is smooth-running now, and looks
stunning on arrival, even through tired
eyes. It’s all light and air, everywhere you
look there are infinity pools, and through
the open window of reception you can see
palm trees waving and the sea beckoning.
Tamassa’s USP is affordable, funky luxu-
ry, an image it strives for through globular
lights, brightly coloured trimmings, sleek
contemporary furniture and – drumroll
please – a discotheque, to which locals
come for a slice of the party. It was the real
deal, too, with a burly DJ turning out chart
toppers and a barman lining up Mauritian
vanilla rum for us in never-ending shots.
But after a gracious but over-rich meal at
the beachside fine dining restaurant, La
Playa, we weren’t in the best state to down
drinks.
Rooms, which are generously appor-
tioned (two sink islands, separate bath and
shower, terraces), are within buildings
encircling the main pool, an enormous
infinity affair with sea views. You toddle a
minute or two to the beach, which –
although beautiful – is nigh on impossible
to swim from without water shoes, as
there are rough stones everywhere (the
charismatic manager, Alain, tells us
these are going to be removed
ASAP). But there is a full array of
water sports on offer to dis-
tract, and the view is of per-
fect turquoise sea and blue
sky, becoming more
intense at sunset, as the
cloudscapes become vast
and complex.
Anyway, we didn’t have
much time to ponder the
stones – our second day
we were whisked off to the
Ile des Deux Cocos, an
island with a villa that was
once used for orgies by a
British general, and is now
rented out. With champagne in
our hands, we strolled among the
coconut trees, admiring the view of
mountains in front of us, the shock of
Clockwise from left:
Les Pavillons at
night, view of Les
Pavillons and Le
Morne from the
water, a typical
room and terrace at
Les Pavillons, a typi-
cal room at Tamassa.
jungle green contrasting with the shallow
sea’s pale aquamarine. Then it was
snorkelling in the protected marine
park nearby. There was plenty to
ogle in the way of bright, expres-
sive fish – nothing scary – for
hours. But alas we just had
half an hour before return-
ing to the island for sun-
bathing with tropical
home-made rum punch
followed by the best bar-
beque lunch of my life,
complete with giant
shrimps, tandoori tuna,
local marlin and lentil
salad. By the time we got
back to Tamassa, it was just
time for sunset beer before
dinner.
Food in Mauritius is a mix of
European, Asian and Creole –
think coconut, local fish and brilliant
croissants – but we didn’t experience it at
its best until the next day, when we arrived
at quite possibly the most idyllic hotel I’ve
ever clapped eyes on, Les Pavillons, in the
shadow of the jagged peak of Le Morne.
Here, on its elegant, dark wood terraces,
chefs serve everything from Thai food to
French to Chinese, all exploding with
fresh flavours and herbs.
Les Pavillons is a self-contained world
of sophisticated luxury. From the per-
fect view of plants, sea and sky in the
foyer, to the rich canvas and natural
hues of the furniture, the lack of dis-
tinction between inside and outside,
and the flocks of gracious, friendly staff,
you are at once swept away by the physi-
cal beauty and excessive solicitousness of
the operation.
Rooms are in villa complexes, and ours
were large, Kelly Hoppen-style affairs,
with photographs evoking sand and
water, great mahogany beds, and a spa-
cious outdoor shower. Each room had a
terrace on a small lawn leading to the
beach, with two elegant lounge chairs and
a table on which a scented candle was lit
each night.
Our main dilemma at Les Pavillons was
choosing between the beachside loungers
and the pool, more like a slate-tiled gar-
den filled with water dotted with luscious
flowerbed islands. The palms made the
beach too shady in the afternoon, so that
solved our problem. Other distractions
from the beach-pool dilemma included a
private sunset cruise, which involved sip-
ping Moet on the gentle swell, and a
snorkelling trip.
One day when a far-off cyclone caused it
to pour with rain, we headed to Port Louis
– an hour by taxi – where we strolled the
market and bought a couple of odd
delights, including cashmere scarves and
tea for constipation from a herb man.
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009
On finding out that the average stay at
Les Pavillons is two weeks, we were over-
come by envy. But then we looked at the
sea, felt the warm wind and sipped our
cocktail, and just thanked our lucky stars
to be there at all.
Thomas Cook Signature (0844 879 8015 or
www.tcsignature.com) specialises in worldwide
holidays, including Mauritius. For January
2010, it’s offering seven nights on an all inclu-
sive basis in a standard room at the Four Star
Tamassa from £1,395 per person, saving £379
per person. Seven nights half-board in a superi-
or room at the five star Les Pavillons starts at
£1,479 per person, saving £423 per person.
Both prices include international flights with
Air Mauritius from London Heathrow, trans-
fers to and from the hotel and are based on
two sharing, travelling from 8 - 31
January 2010.
SPAS
Les Pavillon’s Nymphea spa (pictured above) has
eight treatment villas dotted around an idyllic
tropical garden, all in the dark wood, cream-
coloured canvas style of the hotel. The big deal
here – apart from the insanely beautiful land-
scaping – are the water-filled treatment beds,
which allows the therapist to massage your back
even as you lie on it, meaning you don’t have to
turn over. I can vouch for this experience – it’s
the most relaxing thing on earth, and a relief not
to have the usual neck strain while lying on your
front. If you fancy a real treat with your partner,
go for the Under the Stars package (€220),
which had us enjoying individual treatments
overlooking the garden as the clouds moved over
Le Morne (my Thai massage was great, €115 for
ACTIVITIES
Mauritius is great for those who enjoy (or want
to try) water sports, diving or snorkelling and
other sea activities. Deep-sea fishing is excellent,
with potential catches including the black and
blue marlin, yellow tuna and barracuda – there
are also numerous varieties of sharks to look
out for.
There are 30 diving centres on the island,
each with their own charms. On the east coast,
the underwater life is more varied with greater
90 mins), followed by a bottle of champagne
while the sun set.
Tamassa’s Senses spa embodies the spirit of
Mauritius with design, treatments and rituals
based around indigenous flowers, fruits and veg-
etables, and there’s an attractive pool outside
around which you can dip, sunbathe or eat from
the healthy spa menu. Treatments include a tra-
ditional Mauritian massage, performed- with the
help of bamboo to stretch the limbs and a gallon
of oil – to the rather unrelaxing sounds of the
native Sega beat (€65). It’s a solid massage,
though, especially with the music off. Other high-
lights are a marine body wrap using golden algae
and a pearl treatment with a black pearl facial
and scrub (both €110).
Picture: GETTY
water circulation in the lagoon, and sights
include old shipwrecks. On the north and west
coasts, lagoons are large and easy to navigate.
Behind the barrier reef, the experienced scuba
diver can find spectacular underwater caves or
large coral blocks. Water skiing, snorkelling,
kayaking, glass-bottom boat trips, pedalo boats
and wind surfing are free at both Tamassa and
Les Pavillons, both of which also offer diving and
fishing at a price.
Lifestyle | Travel 21
TRAVEL NOTES
ALYSSA WOLICE
Prague enchanting old town.
A winter wonderland break in Prague
Try a visit to central Europe’s most beautiful city for New Year’s, where
fairytale gothic spires, golden rooftops and plenty of beer are sure to
delight when the clock strikes 12. Stay at the four-star Casa Marcello in
the Josefov district for £696 per person for three nights over New Year’s.
Prices based on two sharing include return flights from Heathrow, private
car transfers and bed and breakfast. Call Kirker Holidays on 020 7593
2283 or visit www.kirkerholidays.com to book.
One of Britain’s most spectacular hotels.
Christmas at Gleneagles
If you still haven’t decided where to spend Christmas, you can get an extra
free night at one of the UK’s most spectacular hotels, the super-luxe
Gleneagles in Perthshire. The hotel’s three-night Christmas package
includes ice skating, fireworks on Christmas Eve, a traditional ceilidh on
Boxing Day and seasonal menus in the hotel’s famous restaurants. Prices
from £3,010 for three nights, plus a complimentary night on 23, 27 or 29
Dec. Call 0800 704 705 or visit www.gleneagles.com.
Magnificent Petra.
New Year’s in Jordan
Don’t fancy ringing in the New Year with still more cold and dreary weather?
Tour operator Jules Verne has just the thing, with a package in Jordan where
you can experience the numerous delights of the Red Sea, including Aquaba,
as well as Wadi Rum and Petra. Beats the drizzle any day. Packages including
flights, seven nights’ bed and breakfast and a New Year’s dinner cost from
£897 per person based on two sharing, with additional costs for excursions.
To reserve, call 0845 166 7035 or visit www.vjv.com.
Dive and trek in Turkey
Luxury resort Letoonia has added adventurous excursions to its entice-
ments with a new programme of diving and trekking for 2010. Follow
expert guides through mountain scenery trails and retrace the footsteps of
nomadic tribes, or come face to face with vibrant marine life during an
exhilarating dive into the Aegean Sea. Trekking costs begin at £140 per
person and diving costs start at £275 per person. Packages including
accommodation and flight transfers are available for both programmes.
Call +90 242 715 1450 or visit www.letooniaresorts.com to book.
 22 Lifestyle | TV& Games CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009

BBC1 BBC2 ITV1 CHANNEL4 FIVE

TERRESTRIAL
6pm BBC News
6.30pm BBC London News
7pm The One Show
7.30pm Inside Out England;
BBC News
8pm EastEnders
8.30pm Panorama
9pm CHOICE Life
10pm BBC News
10.25pm Regional News
10.35pm The Graham
Norton Show
11.25pm Inside Sport: Kieren
Fallon: The Road to Redemption
11.55pm FILM Black Jack:
Ace Point Game: 2005; Weatherview
1.30am Sign Zone: The Art on
Your Wall with Sue Perkins
2.30am Beautiful People 3am
Horizon 4am-6am BBC News
6pm Celebrity Eggheads:
Celebrity Mastermind winners
take on the challenge.
6.30pm Strictly Come Dancing
– It Takes Two
7pm Coal House at War
7.30pm An Island Parish
8pm University Challenge
8.30pm Miranda
9pm CHOICE School of Saatchi:
A winner is selected from the
six artists. Last in the series.
10pm QI
10.30pm Newsnight
11.20pm Have I Got
News for You
11.50pm Defying Gravity
12.35am BBC News
4am-6am Close
6pm London Tonight
6.30pm ITV News
6pm The Simpsons
6.30pm Hollyoaks
6pm Home and Away
6.25pm Live from Studio Five;
TV PICK
7pm Emmerdale 7pm Channel 4 News Topical reports.
7.30pm Coronation Street 7.55pm 3 Minute Wonder: 7.30pm How Do They Do It?
8pm Countrywise This Is Sculpture Five News Update
8.30pm Coronation Street 8pm Christmas at River Cottage 8pm Gadget Show: Gadget of
9pm CHOICE Out of My Depth: 9pm Man on Earth the Decade; Five News at 9
Amanda Holden learns to be a 10pm Ugly Betty 9pm FILM Bad Santa: Black
student midwife. 10.55pm Gordon comedy, starring Billy Bob
10pm ITV News at Ten Ramsay’s F Word Thornton. 2004.
10.30pm London News 12am 4Music Favourites: 11.05pm FILM Beerfest: LIFE
10.35pm FILM Taking Lives: Jamie T Comedy, starring Erik BBC1, 9PM
Premiere. Thriller, starring Hamadryas baboons, Japanese
12.35am 4Play: Stolhanske and Paul
Angelina Jolie. 2004. Newton Faulkner Soter. 2006. macaques and capuchins are among
12.30am Quincy ME; ITV News 12.50am King of the Hill 1.40am 1.15am SuperCasino 3am V8 the creatures explored as the focus
Headlines European Poker Tour 2.35am FILM Supercars 3.55am Race and Rally turns to primates.
1.25am Loose Women 2.10am Never Love a Stranger: 1958. 4.10am UK 4.45am Motorsport Mundial
The Jeremy Kyle Show 3.05am- Switched 4.35am St Elsewhere 5.10am Great Scientists 5.35am-
5.30am ITV Nightscreen 5.25am-6.10am One Tree Hill 6am Home and Away

SKY SPORTS 1 BRITISH EUROSPORT 4.40am 10 Years Younger US HISTORY DISCOVERY HOME &
SATELLITE & CABLE

7pm Netbusters 7.30pm Live
Monday Night Football 10pm
Time of Our Lives 11pm
Netbusters 11.30pm SPL
Round-Up 12am Soccer AM:
The Best Bits 1am Football
League 2.30am Time of Our
Lives 3.30am-6am Live
International Cricket
SKY SPORTS 2
7pm IRB Rugby Sevens 10pm
British Rally Championship
11pm NFL 12.30am IRB Rugby
Sevens 3.30am Soccer AM:
The Best Bits 4.30am-6am
Football League
SKY SPORTS 3
7pm British Rally
Championship 8pm NFL
9.30pm Wild Spirits 10pm
WWE: Bottom Line 11pm
WWE: Afterburn 12am
Extreme Championship
Wrestling 1am Live WWE: Raw
4am-6am Premiership Years
5.45pm Champions Club 7.15pm
Eurogoals: One to One 7.30pm
Alpine Skiing 10.30pm Luge
11.35pm Eurogoals: One to One
11.50pm-12.40am Eurogoals
ESPN
5.45pm Serie A Football
7.30pm Between The Lines
8.45pm Bundesliga Review
Show 10pm Serie A Football
11.45pm ESPN Boxing: Short
Stories 12.00am Live NHL Ice
Hockey 2.30am ICC Cricket
World 3am-5.30am Live NHL
Ice Hockey
LIVING
7pm Ghost Whisperer 8pm
New Extreme: Skinny Celebrities
9pm My Ugly Best Friend 10pm
CSI: Miami 11pm CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation 12am
Criminal Minds 1am Charmed
2am My Ugly Best Friend
3am Wonder Woman 3.50am
60 Minute Makeover
5.30am-6am Home Shopping 7pm Cannibalism: Extreme HEALTH
Survival 8pm Life After People
BBC THREE 9pm Seven Signs of the
7pm Labour and Delivery 8pm
7pm Doctor Who 7.45pm 10 Years Younger 9pm Untold
Apocalypse. Scientists Stories of the ER 10pm Obese
Doctor Who: Top 5 Christmas
Moments 8pm Wallace & interpret the prophecy of the and Pregnant 11pm 999 SCHOOL OF SAATCHI
end of the world. 11pm Emergency 12am Untold
Gromit: A Close Shave 8.30pm
Nostradamus: 500 Years Later
BBC2, 9PM
Move Like Michael Jackson Stories of the ER 1am Obese The six artists organise a group
12am Captain Cook 1am and Pregnant 2am 999
10.30pm EastEnders 11pm exhibition at Charles Saatchi’s gallery in
Family Guy 11.45pm Move Like Cannibalism: Extreme Survival Emergency 3am Little People,
west London, before he joins the original
Michael Jackson 1.40am Blood, 2am Disappearing Britain 3am Big World 4am Bringing Home
selection panel to choose a winner.
Sweat and Takeaways 2.40am SAS Warrior 4am-5am Baby 5am-6am Home Birth
The Real Hustle: High Stakes America’s Toughest Jobs Diaries
3.10am Alesha Dixon: Who’s
Your Daddy? 4.10am-5.10am DISCOVERY SKY1
The World’s Strictest Parents 7pm Mythbusters 8pm How 7pm The Simpsons 8pm
Do They Do It? 8.30pm How Futurama 8.30pm The
E4 It’s Made 9pm Mythbusters Simpsons 9pm UK Border
7pm Hollyoaks 7.30pm My 10pm One Way Out 11pm Force 10pm Road Wars 11pm
Name Is Earl 8pm Friends 9pm American Chopper 12am Stargate Universe 12am Road
One Tree Hill 10pm Being Erica Mythbusters 1am One Way Wars 1.55am Oops TV 2.20am
11pm FILM Big Nothing 2006. Out 2am Time Team 3am Derek Acorah 3.15am X- OUT OF MY DEPTH
12.40am My Name Is Earl Hitler’s Henchmen 3.50am Weighted 4.10am Bite Size ITV1, 9PM
1.10am Scrubs 2am Switched Mark Williams on the Rails Brainiac 4.15am So You Amanda Holden takes part in this pilot
Up! 2.25am Being Erica 4.40am Mega Builders Think You’re Safe? 5.10am- for a possible series where celebrities
3.10am Roswell 4.30am-6am 5.30am-6am How Does That 6am Are You Smarter Than a learn new skills. A mentor teaches
Switched Work? 10 Year Old? Amanda how to be a student midwife.

COFFEE BREAK
Copyright Puzzler Media Ltd, www.puzzler.com
4 15 13 19 31 19
1
QUICK CROSSWORD
2 3 4 5 6

SUDOKU KAKURO 6

4 38
8
16
15
6
7 8 9
Place the numbers from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so that each 4
Fill the grid so that each block 7 22
row, each column and each 3x3 block contains all the numbers
3 19
from 1 to 9 to solve this tricky Sudoku puzzle. adds up to the total in the box 16 6 10 11 12
above or to the left of it. 3

3 You can only use the digits 1-9

and you must not use the
4
16 12
12 13
23
14 15 16
5 7 1 same digit twice in a block.
The same digit may occur 12
31
16
35 17

19 18 16 17
1 6 9 5 more than once in a row or
column, but it must be in a
6
21
34
18 19 20 21
4 9 8 3 separate block. 30
15
23
16
36 14
3 8 2 4 6 16 16
22 23

6 1 4 7 ACROSS DOWN
1 Indicated by gesture (5) 1 Grime (4)
8 6 2 3
7 9 4 WORDWHEEL A O
4
7
8
Pertaining to a town (5)
Courteney ___, actress (3)
‘To ___ is human; to
2 Added (to) (5,2)
3 Aspiration (5)
Using only the letters in the Wordwheel, you have
9 ten minutes to find as many words as possible, A O forgive, divine’, Pope
quotation (3)
4 Chocolate substitute (5)
none of which may be plurals, foreign words or
proper nouns. Each word must be of three letters
or more, all must contain the central letter and N
T L
9 ___ de cologne, light
perfume (3)
5 Compete (3)
6 Trapped (6)
FRIDAY’S letters can only be used once in every word. There 10 Dr Trueman’s first name in 12 Started a round of golf (4,3)
SOLUTIONS KAKURO is at least one nine-letter word in the wheel.
C G Casualty (4)
13 Walked leisurely (6)
11 Clumsy work (5)
QUICK CROSSWORD 6 8 9 1 3 8 9
r 14 Virile (5) 15 Brewer’s ___, source of

ME L L OW E DD Y
1 2 4
3 6 2 4
3 2 1 9 7
1 5 6 8
SUDOKU 7 3 6 2 5 4 9 8 1 16 Fastened (4) vitamin B (5)
A I E E E 3 5 9 7 5 5 4 1 7 8 9 3 6 2 18 Would I ___ to You?, TV
RO GE R S I T A L 5 3 1 2 8 4 6 9 8 2 3 6 1 4 5 7 16 Sound of a plucked string,
T D B R L
comedy panel game (3)
2 1 6 9 8 3 1 8 1 5 4 9 6 7 2 3 or a nasal tone (5)
H E R BAR T ON
3 7 9 1 2 5 8 4 6
20 Turkish ruler (3)
7 1 6 3 2 4 5
A
S
A
T E
E A
V E N
I
T AU
Z
7 5 9 2 1 WORDWHEEL 2 6 4 8 3 7 5 1 9 21 Yoko ___, John Lennon’s 17 Stage ___, 1937 Katharine
V P Y G R 6 8 9 7 1 5 2 8 The nine-letter word 4 5 3 6 7 2 1 9 8 widow (3)
I V AN MA L AW I 9 7 8 5 6 7 4 9 1 2 7 9 4 8 6 3 5 Hepburn film (4)
E C U E C was EDELWEISS 22 Frighten off (5)
8 9 6 7 3 1 6 6 9 8 5 1 3 2 7 4
WA K E MU N I CH 23 Be successful (2,3) 19 Australian flightless bird (3)
CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009 Sport 23

Results
Quins hopes ANOTHER GONG FOR GIGGS
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Birmingham................(0) 1 West Ham..........................(0) 0
Bowyer 52 Att: 28,203
Bolton..............................(2) 3 Man City .............................(2) 3

dashed by
Klasnic 11, 53 Tevez 28, 77, Richards 45
Cahill 43 Att: 22,735
Burnley ..........................(0) 1 Fulham .................................(0) 1
Elliott 60 Zamora 50
Att: 18,397
Chelsea...........................(2) 3 Everton................................(2) 3
Drogba 18, 59, Anelka 23 Cech 12 (og), Yakubu 45
Att: 41,579 Saha 63

slick Sharks
Hull....................................(0) 0 Blackburn..........................(0) 0
Att: 24,124
Man Utd.........................(0) 0 Aston Villa .........................(1) 1
Att: 75,130 Agbonlahor 21
Stoke................................(1) 2 Wigan....................................(1) 2
Sanli 37 Boyce 15, Figueroa 72
Shawcross 74 Att: 26,728
Sunderland..................(1) 1 Portsmouth......................(0) 1
Bent 23 Kaboul 90
Att: 37,578
to really go for it in the second. Tottenham...................(0) 0 Wolverhampton.............(1) 1
HARLEQUINS 19 “They had four chances and they
scored four tries. It’s been a massively
Att: 36,012
Yesterday
Doyle 3

Liverpool .......................(1) 1 Arsenal................................(0) 2

disappointing Heineken Cup cam- Kuyt 41 Johnson 50 (og)
SALE 29 paign, but we should warn Sale that
we won’t travel all the way up there
Att: 43,853

Chelsea
P W D L F A GD Pts
16 12 1 3 40 13 27 37
Arshavin 58

next weekend without being compet-

itive.” Man Utd 16 11 1 4 34 14 20 34
▲

RUGBY UNION Arsenal 15 10 1 4 40 19 21 31

Elsewhere, Leicester staged a late Aston Villa 16 8 5 3 26 14 12 29
BY JON COUCH fightback but couldn’t prevent a Tottenham 16 8 3 5 35 22 13 27
HEAD coach John Kingston insisted his potentially-damaging 40-30 defeat to Man City 15 6 8 1 29 21 8 26
Harlequins side will not roll over for Clermont Auvergne. Liverpool 16 7 3 6 32 22 10 24
Sale in Friday’s reverse clash after the The French side raced into a strong Birminghm 16 7 3 6 16 16 0 24
Fulham 16 6 5 5 20 17 3 23
Sharks finally put paid to their faint early lead amid snow showers, but Sunderland 16 6 3 7 22 22 0 21
Heineken Cup hopes at The Stoop. despite the late flurry which led to Stoke 16 5 6 5 15 19 -4 21
The Quins scored three tries and tries for Anthony Allen, Toby Flood Blackburn 16 5 4 7 16 28 -12 19
conceded four in a thrilling tie which and Jeremy Staunton, the Tigers were Burnley 16 5 3 8 20 34 -14 18
was effectively won by a memorable always second best. Wigan 16 5 3 8 19 36 -17 18
Everton 16 4 5 7 22 30 -8 17
score from England wing Ben Cohen. Bath kept their hopes alive by hold- Hull 17 4 5 8 17 34 -17 17
It means Quins need a minor mira- ing on for a 16-9 victory over Wolves 16 4 4 8 15 28 -13 16
cle to make the quarter-finals, but Edinburgh for their first win of the RYAN GIGGS’ trophy-laden year continued last night when he was crowned the 2009 BBC West Ham 16 3 5 8 24 31 -7 14
Kingston insisted his side still have a campaign. Sports Personality of the Year. The Manchester United ace, named PFA Player of the Year Bolton 15 3 4 8 20 32 -12 13
point or two to prove at Edgeley Park. Tries from hooker Pieter Dixon and last season, beat F1 world champion Jenson Button and athlete Jessica Ennis to the prize. Portsmouth 16 3 2 11 14 24 -10 11
“It was win or bust,” Kingston Michael Stephenson proved enough England football coach Fabio Capello was named Coach of the Year, while the England
admitted. “We gave away so many to cancel out Chris Paterson’s three cricket team were Team of the Year. Sprinter Usain Bolt won the Overseas prize and golf SPORTS EDITOR JON COUCH
soft tries in the first half that we had penalties. legend Seve Ballesteros was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Picture: PA email sport@cityam.com

SPORT | IN BRIEF
Yelling joy but Farah collapses
ATHLETICS: Britain’s long distance hope
Mo Farah had to be carried away on a
stretcher after securing a second place
finish at the European Cross Country
Championships.
Farah, who won the event in 2006, col-
More history for Martin
GOLF: Spaniard Pablo Martin created
more European Tour history after claim-
ing the Alfred Dunhill Championship in
South Africa.
Two years after becoming the first
amateur to win on the circuit, the 23-
I had no knowledge, says
Woods’ caddy Williams
Ding takes second UK title
SNOOKER: China’s Ding Junhui secured
four of the last five frames to stun world
champion John Higgins and claim a
second UK Championship success at
Telford last night.
Ding, the 2005 champion, came from knowledge of what he is doing.”
▲

lapsed at the line after missing out to
Spain’s Alemayehu Bezabeh in Dublin.
It still proved a good day, however, for
British athletes after Hayley Yelling
secured a shock win in the women’s event.
Yelling, 35, only came out of a year-
long retirement last month but led from
start to finish to beat Rosa Morato by
seven seconds. She said: “I just wanted to
go out hard, because I know that’s how I
race better, to just go out and hang on
for as long as possible.”
year-old has now become the first player
ever to capture titles both as an amateur
and a professional.
The Malaga player, who had scored
just one top ten finish in between,
secured his Tour card until 2012 after
posting a final round 69 to finish on 17-
under-par and edge out another former
champion, Charl Schwarzel, by a single
shot in a tense finale.
Overnight leader Ernie Els slipped back
after a disappointing 77.
7-6 down to beat the Scot 10-8 in a
tense finale.
Higgins missed a routine brown to
throw away a near certain 9-7 lead and
the world No14 made him pay by taking
the final three frames – including a final
frame break of 75 – in a match which fin-
ished at gone midnight.
Victory was Ding’s fourth success in
ranking events, making him the most suc-
cessful overseas player, surpassing James
Wattana.
GOLF
TIGER WOODS’S caddie Steve
Williams insists he had no knowledge
of the world No1’s “infidelity”.
Woods is currently taking an indef-
inite break from golf following revela-
tions about his private life.
“I had no knowledge of what was
going on. If I did, I would say I did. I’m
an honest person,” said Williams.
“When he is not competing, I am
back in New Zealand. I have no
Woods, 33, has not been seen in
public since confessing he had been
unfaithful to his wife Elin.
Last night he was dropped by man-
agement consultancy firm
Accenture, who said the golfer is “no
longer the right representative”.
But Williams, who has caddied for
Woods since 1999, is standing by him.
He said: “I am committed to him. I
understand he needs a break to sort
his personal stuff out.”
 Sport
24 CITYA.M. 14 DECEMBER 2009

“IT’S A MASSIVELY
DISAPPOINTING
CAMPAIGN”
QUINS’ EURO HOPES
CRUSHED BY COHEN: P23

Spurs star
faces police
probe after
fan claim

▲
FOOTBALL
TOP 7 BY TOM WALKER
TEAM PLD W D L F A PTS
POLICE last night confirmed they are
Chelsea 16 12 1 3 40 13 37 investigating an alleged assault by
Man Utd 16 11 1 4 34 14 34 Tottenham full-back Benoit Assou-
Arsenal 15 10 1 4 40 19 31 Ekotto on one of his own fans at
White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Aston Villa 16 8 5 3 26 14 29
The 25-year-old Cameroon interna-
Tottenham 16 8 3 5 35 22 27 tional confronted a fan near the dug-
Man City 15 6 8 1 29 21 26 out shortly after Spurs’ shock 1-0
Liverpool 16 7 3 6 32 22 24 defeat by Wolves and had to be
dragged away by assistant manager
Boss Arsene Wenger congratulates scorer Andrey Arshavin after his half-time tirade prompted a rousing Arsenal comeback at Anfield. Picture: ACTION IMAGES Joe Jordan.
“The police are investigating an

Wenger rant fires Gunners

break, Wenger saw his men come
LIVERPOOL 1 through thanks to a Glen Johnson
own goal and a stunning strike from
Andrey Arshavin, who added to his
ARSENAL 2 four-goal burst at Anfield last season.
Victory moved the Gunners back
up to third in the table, three points
behind Manchester United in second
▲
lipped as to what exactly was said at
half-time, saying: “I don’t like to talk
about that, I’ll keep that in the dress-
ing room.” Instead, he admitted: “They
knew it was absolutely needed to win
this game and when you lose the 50-
50s in big games you don’t win. It was
just to make them conscious the com-
failed to deal with Fabio Aurelio’s
free-kick under pressure from Lucas
and Kuyt was on hand to steer home.
But Wenger’s rant clearly had the
desired effect as the Gunners were
level just five minutes into the re-start.
Samir Nasri’s innocuous cross got a
slight touch from Jamie Carragher
allegation of assault following the
Spurs v Wolves match at White Hart
Lane,” a police spokesman confirmed.
“There have been no arrests.”
Spurs say they are reviewing the
incident although boss Harry
Redknapp claims not to have seen it.
“We’re aware of the incident and
investigating it. The police are speak-
ing to everyone involved,” a Spurs
spokesman added.
The allegation comes from the sup-
porter, who gave a statement to secu-
rity officials, along with Jordan.
An eye witness said the defender,
who joined the north London club

FOOTBALL
BY JON COUCH
ARSENAL captain Cesc Fabregas
admitted a furious dressing room
tirade from manager Arsene Wenger
was the inspiration behind the
Anfield comeback which reignited
the Gunners’ title hopes.
Wenger’s side were punished for a
poor first half display by Dirk Kuyt’s
41st minute opener.
But after stunning his side into
action with a furious outburst at the
with a game in hand.
But captain Fabregas admitted
none of that would have been possi-
ble without the boss’ intervention.
“The boss screamed, I’ve never
seen him like that before,” the
Spaniard explained. “He was really
disappointed in the first half and
said we didn’t deserve to wear the
Arsenal shirt if we played like that.
And I think he was right. In the sec-
ond half we turned it round.”
Wenger, however, remained tight-
mitment of Liverpool was bigger.
“I don’t put it down to a lack of
desire – there was a fear to lose a big
game. You could see that in the first
half. It showed the team can respond
and they are proud.”
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez
unleashed both big guns Steven
Gerrard and Fernando Torres on the
Gunners and it was no surprise when
they took the lead just before the
break after dominating the opening
half. Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia
which wrong-footed Johnson, who in
turn, bundled the ball past his own
keeper, Pepe Reina.
Then, eight minutes later, Arshavin
brought back memories of last sea-
son’s heroic display at Anfield with an
emphatic finish high past the keeper.
But the Reds posed little threat
thereafter and slumped to their sixth
league defeat, thus piling more pres-
sure on under-fire Benitez. “Top four is
the target, it’s a long way but we need
to keep going,” he said.
from Lens in 2006, raised his hands to
the supporter’s neck after allegedly
receiving verbal abuse.
The clash was not spotted on cam-
era by broadcasters covering the
match, so CCTV footage may be used.
Saturday’s defeat, which sees
Redknapp’s men drop to fifth in the
Premier League table, was met with a
chorus of boos by home fans.
Spurs have the chance to make
amends on Wednesday when they
host sixth-placed Manchester City.

Picking star Anderson is a Haye trainer has no fear

from Klitschko defence
‘small risk’ warns Strauss he said. “He plants his feet in range,
▲

BOXING
uses his height to lean back out of the
cerned with the fitness of his No1 Sidebottom, who pressed his claims
BY TOM WALKER way of hitting, coming back that may
▲

CRICKET
BY JON COUCH
CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss admits
England are taking a “small risk” in
picking star bowler James Anderson
for the first Test against South Africa
on Wednesday.
Anderson has been struggling with
a knee injury but was risked for 15
overs in the final warm-up match
before the series opener at Centurion.
The Lancastrian weighed in with
just one wicket in the drawn match
against a South African Invitational
XI, but Strauss insists he is not con-
strike bowler. “There is an element of
risk, but a small one,” Strauss said.
“Even when his knee has been hurt-
ing quite a lot, it still hasn’t prevented
him from bowling.
“We never got to that stage – and
that was quite a long time ago. I’m
not overly concerned. But when you
pick a bowler you want him to be as
close to 100 per cent fit as possible
because in these conditions, you’re
going to be asking quite a lot of your
fast bowlers.”
Strauss’ concerns were eased some-
what by the form of seamer Ryan
for a place in the bowling attack for
Wednesday with an impressive five-
wicket haul.
The left-armer, who has himself
been struggling with a side injury,
took 5-42, leaving his skipper contem-
plating a healthy dilemma.
“It was very encouraging to see the
way Ryan bowled,” Strauss added.
“I was very impressed with him.
The ball hit the gloves hard; he swung
it, reverse-swung it at the end – and
he’s always pretty accurate.
“It’s a pretty good combination
when he’s got all that going.”
DAVID HAYE’S trainer Adam Booth is
confident he has hatched a plan to
beat Vitali Klitschko after the
Ukrainian retained his WBC heavy-
weight title in Berne, Switzerland, on
Saturday night.
Klitschko condemned American
Kevin Johnson to his first defeat with
a unanimous points victory but his
laboured performance failed to
impress Booth.
“It was a typical Vitali performance.
He does the same thing over and over
again and everybody that he fights is
unable to pose a question of his style,”
have substance on it and uses his
strong arms to push so repetitively.”
After the fight, Klitschko declared
himself ready and willing to meet
WBA heavyweight champion Haye in
the ring.
“This will be very interesting to
fight Haye but let’s see what next year
brings. Let’s see, I am ready,” he said.
Londoner Haye, who defeated giant
Russian Nicolay Valuev last month, is
currently nursing a hand injury
ahead of his first defence against the
mandatory WBA challenger, John
Ruiz, in the spring.